The Devil's Former Assistant is in Love with the Expendable
by FictionWriter91
Summary: Sequel to The Devil's Assistant is Expendable. 5 years has passed. A tragic incident affecting Emily's brother has brought a ghost back from the dead. Lee investigates what happened, and he is shocked by what he discovers along the way. A new enemy rises, and it's up to Lee to keep those precious to him safe. Emily, however, is wrestling with a question: Can she forgive him?
1. Chapter 1

**As promised, here is my sequel to The Devil's Assistant is Expendable! **

**Trigger warning for a violent-like scene.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

**2011**

Lee stood in the hangar, spinning his knife in his hand over and over. He was anxious, and everyone knew he was anxious. Gunner was avoiding him, Yin was practising his fighting moves, Caesar was sharpening his knife, and Toll was helping Barney finish loading the plane.

"He all right?" Toll asked Barney.

"Yea. Nervous I imagine," Barney answered.

"I would be too," Toll agreed. He watched Lee stare into space, the knife swinging hypnotically on his finger. Barney finished with the last box and stood in the doorway of his plane.

"All right, saddle up!" he called. Everyone made their way over to get into the plane. Lee was last.

"You ready?" Barney asked him.

"I've been ready for this for years," Lee answered.

"We'll get him," Barney promised. He clapped Lee's shoulder as he passed, and Barney shut the door. Lee settled into his seat beside Barney in the front and did his best to still his shaking hands. He had been after Kazimir for five years. He had been dead for five years. It was time to come alive again.

"Here we go," Barney said, falling into his seat and turning the plane on. Lee didn't answer. All these years he had waited. For the billionth time, he thought about Emily. Had she moved on? Was she still in New York? Did she miss him? Did she even still think of him? Was she okay?

"Hoo ya," Toll called from the back, getting a response from everyone but Lee. The hoo ya had been taken out of him the day he had died. Well, obviously he wasn't dead, but to the world he was. Barney had made the call over five years ago to claim Lee was dead in order to save Emily from being killed by Kazimir. The man had come to her office with the intent of killing her and then Lee in order to finish his revenge. It failed, though, ending with Lee getting shot and Kazimir surviving the bullets Lee had put into him in return. Lee knew Barney had meant well, but sometimes he got angry about the choice Barney had made for him without consulting him.

"You gonna go to New York when this is over?" Barney asked.

"I haven't decided," Lee answered. A huge part of him wanted to, but a small part of him feared Emily's reaction, and if she had moved on, who was he to come waltzing back into her life?

Barney didn't answer as he lit his cigar. Whatever Lee decided, he hoped it was the right choice.

**New York**

Emily shut the door to her son's room and went to the living room, collapsing onto the couch.

"That was fast," Eric commented, coming to join her. She gave a small smile. Ever since Lee had died and she gave birth to her son, Eddie Lee, she stayed with Eric, and he helped her as best as he could.

"He's getting better," Emily sighed. The night terrors weren't as frequent. She felt bad for her little boy. The dream world was a place she couldn't protect him from. It bothered her. She knew how it felt to be tormented by horrible dreams. She blinked away the image of Lee lying on the floor, dead.

"I still can't get over how much he looks like him," Eric commented.

"I know."

Emily wrung her fingers together. Her son was also Lee's son. She had found out she was pregnant not long after Lee's death. It had been the hardest time in her life, knowing she was alone and that Lee was missing his son grow up.

"I'm sure he's watching somewhere," Eric said, squeezing her hand with his. He avoided looking at her, though. The guilt inside of him was enormous.

"I hope so," she whispered. She missed Lee every day still. She knew she'd never love someone else the way she had loved him.

**Brazil**

The team walked through brush for what seemed like hours. Lee was beginning to think they'd never get there.

"He hid himself well," Caesar noted, chopping at some brush with his machete.

"Not well enough," Barney commented. It had taken a long time, but one of Barney's contacts had come through and told him the good news, that Kazimir had settled down where he thought he was safe. When they finally saw the building structure appear before them, they stopped.

"You have the layout right?" Toll asked Barney.

"Yea. My guy gave it to me."

"Then let's go."

They split up and went towards the building carefully and quietly. They took out the guards as they went, their guns silenced. Once inside, Lee surged forward to find Kazimir while the others kept silencing the guards. He approached the bedroom where he knew Kazimir would be sleeping. He had studied the layout well. He went to stand over Kazimir in his bed, and he cocked his gun, making Kazimir leap awake. At first, Kazimir didn't know what he was looking at until the light came on. Barney was standing by the door, watching.

"No way," Kazimir said. "You're dead."

"I guess you don't believe in ghosts then," Lee commented.

"I will end you," Kazimir threatened.

"I'm the one standing here with a gun to your head," Lee snorted. "I think the time for you to threaten me has passed."

"So shoot me already," Kazimir sneered.

"First, who sent you to kill my parents?" Lee demanded.

"I'll never tell you anything."

"Who sent you?!" Lee shouted. Kazimir started to laugh.

"Lee, he's not going to talk," Barney said. "Don't waste time." He was worried Kazimir would get away.

"A ghost sent me," Kazimir said after he stopped laughing. "Now, put that bullet in me and get it over with."

"With pleasure," Lee replied. He pulled the trigger over and over again. When he ran out of bullets, he lowered the gun.

"Did you get him?" Barney asked, his tone a touch sarcastic.

"Yea," Lee nodded. "I got him." This time, there was no mistake. This time, Kazimir wouldn't get up and flee and cause Lee to lose the most important person in his life.

"I bet that felt good."

"Let's just go," Lee ordered, walking past Barney. He was anxious to move on with his life, to get his old life back. His only regret was not getting an answer about who ordered his parents' deaths, but some things you had to let go of in order to move forward.

**New York **

"I've been thinking," Eric said as Emily flicked through the TV stations for something good to watch.

"What's that?"

"You really need to get out more."

"I'm fine, Eric."

"I'm serious. It's been five years, Em. You gotta at least go out and have some fun."

Emily almost threw the remote at Eric's head. What was he thinking?!

"I know, right? How dare I suggest fun when you're a single mother whose former boyfriend died," Eric sighed. "I'm out of my mind."

"I'm just not ready."

"Serena would love to take you out."

"I haven't talked to her in a while."

"Oookay, so what about anyone else from your work?"

"I'm not going to hang out with my staff after work," Emily said, wrinkling her nose. After leaving Miranda, Emily had gotten a different job at a different magazine and had climbed her way to the top. She was now the editor in chief of Miranda's competing magazine: _Illuminate_. It was a feat to be so high rank so young, but Emily was ambitious and never gave up. She was much more lenient with her staff, too. She would never behave like Miranda Priestly. She had hated the woman ever since Miranda revealed she thought Lee was bad for her, that she'd known Lee's father to be a bad man and that genes indicated Lee was bad too.

"You should really consider it."

"Drop it, Eric."

Eric didn't push the conversation any further. His guilt was humming in his ears, though, for Eric had a secret, and the secret Eric had was a big one. And if Emily ever found out, she'd probably never speak to him again.

**Days Later**

"You're a free man," Barney said as they drank at Tool's tattoo parlor. "What are you gonna do?"

Lee thought hard. His first instinct was to get to New York, but he still didn't want to impose on Emily after all this time. She'd be furious with him. He was debating just leaving his memory as it was with her instead of showing her he had lied to her.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully.

"I can do some recon if you want," Barney offered.

"No."

Barney sipped his beer, not telling Lee that he had periodically checked in on Emily over the years despite Lee telling him not to. He'd never approached her, but he had watched her from afar. She was doing well, and she was still single, that much he knew. One time she met his gaze, and he was pretty sure she recognized him, but she never said anything to him or let on she recognized him.

"If it were me," Toll said. "I'd go to her."

"You must like getting slapped in the face," Caesar laughed.

"No, seriously," Toll went on, looking at Lee. "I think she'd understand. I would."

"She might kill him," Gunner pointed out. "Then he'd really be dead."

"Maybe he should go with back up," Yin suggested.

"I could tattoo her name on your arm," Tool offered. "Ladies find that hot sometimes. It might make her forget you did her wrong."

"Stop it, all of you," Lee ordered, scowling. The knuckleheads were not helping. He stood and walked outside for some air. Barney eventually joined him.

"What does your heart say?" he asked.

"What are you, my fairy godmother?"

"I'm not playing around," Barney said. "I mean it. What do you want to do?"

Lee wanted to go to her and hold her in his arms and never let her go, but he was too afraid.

"I don't know, Barney," he lied. "I don't know."

...

William Pearce was a man who got things done. Granted, he got some resistance here and there, but he usually got what he wanted in the end. Case in point, he was still pursuing a woman he'd met at an old job, Emily Charlton, but she was playing very hard to get. His cousin, James, had warned him of that. Will knew that James didn't have it in him to be aggressive, though. James was all bark and no bite, unlike Will. The bonus of knowing Emily was knowing she had a brother who owned his own bar. He felt this would benefit his business if Eric would let him entertain his guests there every so often. He could also use a low key place to store his things and make deals. Will, you see, was not just a police officer. He was into some things that some would say was more dangerous than police work, but Will liked danger. He considered it his middle name. He looked at his watch and smiled. It was time to go pay Eric Charlton a visit and see if his offer had been reconsidered.

...

Eric was standing and holding the rag in his hands, lost in thought. It was something he thought about almost every day, and almost every day he told Emily about it. Something kept him from doing it, though, or rather someone. His mind flashed back:

_"What are you doing?" Eric asked, seeing a rugged, beat up looking older man following a team of nurses who were pushing a hospital bed down the hall._

_"Who are you?" the man asked._

_"Eric. Is that Lee?"_

_"No," the man said, stepping in front of Eric to block his view as the nurse pulled the sheet over Lee's head to hide him._

_"What are you doing? They told Emily he was dead. My sister is devastated. Is that him? Where are you taking him?" Eric demanded. He took in this man before him, the tattoos, the smell of a cigar, and the holster on his hip with the pistol sitting in it._

_"You're Barney, aren't you?" Eric asked, realizing._

_"Depends who's asking."_

_"Where are you taking him?" he repeated._

_"Look, your sister is not safe if Lee's alive."_

_"So, he's alive?" Eric asked, stunned._

_"Yea."_

_"But..."_

_"This stays between you and me," Barney said fiercely. "If you want your sister to stay breathing, you'll keep this to yourself. We have to catch the guy who tried to kill her and Lee, and the only way to keep her safe is to pretend that Lee is dead. Do you understand me?"_

_Eric heard the words, and he knew Barney was right, but he still felt angry._

_"This will kill her when she finds out."_

_"Don't think I haven't already thought of that," Barney said, holding up his hand. "When the time comes, she can take it out on me. I'm to blame for this, not him."_

_"And when she finds out that I knew too?"_

_"I'll tell her I threatened to cut out your vocal cords," Barney shrugged. Eric swallowed. He glanced at the unconscious form of Lee on the bed, and he wondered how his friend was going to react when he found out what Barney had done._

_"Look, we gotta go. I'll check in on her from time to time, see how she's doing," Barney promised. "Make sure she's safe."_

_"I hope you know what you're doing," Eric said, feeling sick inside. This secret would almost kill him._

_"I do," Barney nodded. Then they were gone, and Eric was left standing in the hallway wondering how long he could keep this secret before he cracked._

The noise of the door opening made Eric come back to the present moment. William Pearce and two of his boys strolled in. The bar was empty since it was near closing time. Eric wasn't exactly a fan of Will. The man was no good, and he was expecting Eric to let him be no good in his bar. He'd seen Will in there acting shady, and he didn't like it.

"Beer me," Will said, chuckling. Eric slid one over to him. The two guys didn't order anything.

"Why are you here?" Eric asked. "My answer is still no."

"I thought with some time you'd change your mind."

"Nope."

"Think about your sister and your nephew. You'd be helping them."

"I am not a criminal, Will."

Will sipped his beer, a small smile on his lips.

"Who said anything about being a criminal?"

Eric knew now that he should have told Emily that he'd been approached by this guy. He knew Will had worked with Emily in the past briefly, but that was the extent to which he knew him. The guy had been trying to date his sister for a while now, but Emily wouldn't have it. Eric knew he shouldn't have let Will away with what he'd done so far. Now he was in a dilemma, a very bad dilemma. When it came down to loyalty to his sister, though, he chose his sister every time. She needed to know who Will really was, and he'd tell her as soon as he got home.

"This really is the opportunity of a lifetime," Will insisted. "All you have to do is say yes."

"I refuse," Eric said. "And don't think I won't tell my sister what you're all about either." He pulled out a block of drugs then, setting it on the counter. He'd taken it from the crate Will had asked to store there. He was glad he had done so because that crate was long gone now.

"I found this in my back room," Eric went on. "I know you put it there. I saw the footage. I'm not a storage locker for your shit. I will tell the police."

Will gave him a look. It said it all, really.

"Oh, buddy," he sighed. "I am the police." With one gesture, his men jumped Eric. When it was all over, Eric was on the ground looking most definitely dead. Will tossed some cash onto the bar top for his drink, picked up his drugs, and walked out with his two men behind him.

...

When Eric didn't come home by his usual time, Emily grew concerned. She asked their neighbor to watch her son while she went to check in on Eric. When she got to the bar, she immediately took in the mess. She froze, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Eric?" she called. There was no response. She stepped around the broken glass and broken stools to look behind the bar. She screamed. There was her brother lying in his own blood, not moving. She fumbled for her phone to call for help. As she dialed, she hurried over to her brother, feeling for a pulse.

"911 what is your emergency?"

"I think my brother is dead," she answered.

"Your brother is dead? Where are you, miss?"

"The Charlton Bar," Emily answered as she pressed her fingers into her brother's neck, blood spilling over her hand. "Please hurry. I...I think I've found a pulse."

"Help is on the way, ma'am."

...

Emily stood beside her brother as the machine pushed air into his lungs and let it hiss out again. He was lucky to be alive, they told her. If any of the blows had been an inch in the other direction, he'd be dead.

Emily wanted to know who had done this to her brother. He looked so small and defenseless lying there. The investigating police officer, Jimmy, had come and taken her statement. Another officer, Gordon, was posted outside Eric's door in case his attacker decided to come back and finish the job. This is what scared Emily the most, but they both assured her that only they and the police captain knew Eric was alive and no news team was going to announce Eric had survived. The hospital brought back all sorts of memories for her, though. Most of them she hated. The one she hated the least was of her and Lee falling asleep in her hospital bed after he'd come back to her after she'd been hit by the car. It just made her sad.

"Miss Charlton?"

She turned to see the doctor standing there.

"Yes?"

"You've probably deduced that Eric is in a coma," the doctor said. He was Dr. Goodwin according to his name tag.

"I have."

"I regret to say that we don't know if he'll ever come out of it," Dr. Goodwin said apologetically. Emily felt herself crashing on the inside. If she lost Eric too, she would definitely lose her mind.

"You're telling me I am going to have to eventually pull the plug," Emily stated.

"Possibly."

Emily didn't say anything else as she turned and fled from the room. She needed air. She needed to get her feet back onto firm ground. She needed to stop flying and spinning around out of control. She burst out of the hospital doors, gasping. First her father, then Lee, now Eric. She couldn't take it anymore. She hugged herself as she cried big, heaving sobs. She thought of her son and what he was going to say when she told him his uncle might never come home. He'd be devastated. She had no idea how to even begin trying to explain to him what happened. No clue at all.

...

It was on the news. Lee stopped short when he saw the story flash across the screen. He stared at the TV, looking at Eric's bar being shown from all angles. It was a disaster. What had happened there?

"...chaos tonight as violence rocks this small, New York bar," the reporter was saying. "What we don't know is, was it a robbery gone bad? Or was it a hit?"

Lee felt the room shrink. What had happened at Eric's bar? His gut told him the victim was Eric, and his heart broke for Emily. She didn't need to lose anyone else in her life. It didn't take long for him to make up his mind. It was time to go home.

* * *

**Things get worse before they get better. I'm sorry for the grim first chapter. Stay tuned!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you, Guest, for your review! It means a lot to know that folks are still enjoying this storyline. Happy reading, everyone!**

* * *

"What are you doing?" Barney asked when he saw Lee standing before him with his bag. Lee only ever had a bag. The fact that his whole life was in that bag was a bit depressing.

"I'm 99.9 percent sure Eric's been hurt. They wouldn't say who the victim was, so that leads me to suspect it was him."

Barney paused mid sip of his beer. Eric. He had just seen him a month ago. When Barney went to check in on Emily, he checked in on Eric too. He kept Eric informed on how close they were to solving everything so Lee could come home. Eric had wanted to tell Emily. Barney had threatened him again.

"Why do you look so shocked?" Lee asked, suspicious.

"Because I am. What do you mean he's hurt?" Barney countered, setting his beer down now.

"It would appear he got attacked in his own bar. I need to make sure he's all right. If he's still alive, they wouldn't advertise it to keep him safe in case his attacker decides to finish the job."

"You sure that's a wise idea? Going there? Are you ready to see her?"

"I can stay low," Lee reasoned. He wanted desperately to see her, but he didn't know if revealing himself right now was a good idea. Her brother was possibly dying. He didn't want to cause anymore pain.

"Why don't I check in on him for you?" Barney offered.

"Like you've been doing the last five years?" Lee challenged. His arms were crossed. Barney should have known better than to think that Lee wouldn't pick up on Barney's flights to New York.

"I just wanted to make sure she was all right..."

"I asked you not to do that."

"I know, but you know me. I don't listen," Barney dismissed. "It wasn't a lot. Maybe five times. Once a year, you know?"

"Liar."

"You want a ride or not?" Barney asked, changing the subject.

"Yea. You owe me one," Lee answered, picking up his bag. Barney sighed and jumped down off his stool, following Lee.

...

"Hi, Mum," Emily said wearily. Ever since she told her mother about Eric, her mother called her almost every hour. Emily knew her mother was very worried, and if it was Eddie, Emily would do the same thing, but Emily was so tired. Hearing her mother go in circles about it all was draining her even further.

"Any news?"

"No, Mum."

"How's my grandson? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. He's asking questions, but he's fine."

"And you?"

"I'm fine."

"You're not working, are you?" Rosemary asked. Emily set down the outline of the fall magazine she was looking at. Of course she was working. She had nothing else to occupy her mind from the screaming thoughts that she might never see or talk to her brother again. She could only focus on Eddie so much, and she could only go for so many walks with Shadow. The dog was even starting to refuse to leave the apartment, which was big indicator.

"No," she lied.

At least her mother wasn't asking her if she was eating. Emily had finally stopped worrying so much about staying 90 pounds. She was still a version of thin of course, but she wasn't so conscious of food all the time like she used to be. Not as much anyway. It popped up here and there, but she was handling it.

"My flight is in eight hours," Rosemary said. "I couldn't get one sooner."

"It's okay. Eric's not going anywhere."

"He has to come back, Emily," Rosemary insisted, crying a little now. "He has to."

Emily had no reply. The tears were making it too hard to speak anyhow.

...

When Barney landed his plane, Lee felt anxiety like he'd never felt before. He did his best to still his shaking hands, but it was difficult. He dropped his bag a couple of times.

"You sure you're up to this?" Barney asked, noticing.

"Yea."

Lee wanted to go to the bar first. He needed to find clues. Luckily, no one was there anymore since the crimes scene folks were finished up for the moment. Lee stood among the mess and felt angry inside.

"Who would want to hurt him?" Barney asked. "He always seemed like a nice guy to me."

"That's the million dollar question, isn't it?" Lee countered. They didn't find anything that would help identify the perpetrator. He checked out the surveillance cameras, but the tapes were gone. He assumed they were taken already by police.

They went to the hospital next. It wasn't hard to sneak around and find Eric's room because there was a police officer posted outside of it, which was a bit of a deterrent.

"What now?" Barney asked. Lee thought hard. Then, it was made easy for them. The officer's cell phone rang, and he answered. He got a goofy look on his face as he walked away from the door. Barney guessed it was a significant other on the phone the way the guy was talking.

"Unbelievable," Lee muttered. So much for constant protection. They slipped inside, and Lee went in to stand beside Eric and felt his heart clench. Seeing his friend so lifeless and vulnerable created a whole new level of feelings inside of Lee.

"I'm gonna find out who did this to you," Lee said to Eric. "And then they'll pay. I promise."

He stood there for a bit longer until Barney snapped his fingers to get his attention.

"Someone's coming," he hissed. Lee ducked away and slipped into the closet with Barney right behind him. They both looked through the crack in the door.

"Hi, brother," Emily said, coming in. Lee tensed, his breath constricting and almost choking him at the sight of her. It had been five years. Barney put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed tightly. Lee clenched his fists so hard his nails cut his skin.

"Mum called," Emily said, sitting down beside Eric's bed. "She's coming on the next flight. I'm not sure what to do with her, though. She calls every hour as it is, and I can barely talk to her. Trust you to leave me alone with her." She laughed a little. Then she teared up.

"You can't leave me, Eric," she said thickly. "You just can't. I can't lose someone else..."

It took all Lee had not to burst out of the closet and go hold her. He was witnessing firsthand her grief over him "dying," and it was ripping him apart.

"Don't," Barney said quietly, knowing what Lee wanted to do. It wasn't the right time.

"Miss Charlton?"

"Yes?" Emily looked up. The doctor came into the room. Barney watched.

"Can we have a word outside?"

"Sure."

They got up and left the room. Barney crept out with Lee behind him, peeking his head around the doorway. Emily and the doctor were down the hall a bit, and Emily's back was to them. The officer still wasn't back from his phone call yet.

"Go, go, go," Barney urged quietly. Lee slid around him and fled, Barney on his heels. Lee's heart was still pounding as they exited the hospital. As much as he wanted to stay, he knew that was not the place to see her for the first time after so long. Then again, maybe it was. He figured she was going to hurt him. Why not have medical aid on standby? His logic won, though. He'd face her soon, but not here.

"Where to now?" Barney asked.

"Their apartment," Lee answered. He figured he'd find some kind of clue there if the police hadn't already searched.

...

"There's more brain activity?" Emily asked, repeating what the doctor said.

"Seems to be. That's a good thing," Dr. Goodwin assured her.

Emily had turned around in the hallway when she noticed Dr. Goodwin looking over her shoulder at something. Emily had seen the back of a man disappearing around the corner, but she didn't know who it was. The doctor was frowning, but he had missed where the man had come from as he had been looking at Eric's papers.

"After an assault like this, any positive news is good news," Dr. Goodwin went on. "Don't give up hope." He patted Emily's shoulder and then left her in the hallway alone. Emily felt cold. She shivered. Then she went back to sit beside Eric. She saw the officer return then, and she wondered where he had been. He looked a bit sheepish, but she didn't press. No one knew her brother was still alive aside from the officer standing guard, the investigating officer, and their captain, she believed. That's what they had told her anyway. It was still kept off the news. This was just a precaution, but it was one she appreciated all the same.

...

"What's the status of the bar case?" Will asked his colleague casually at work as he slipped a piece of gum into his mouth.

"Don't know. It's very tight lipped. Only the captain and Detective Duke know what's going on," his colleague shrugged. Will found this to be very interesting. Was there a chance Eric was still alive? He wondered. His buddies had beaten him up pretty good, and Eric had looked very dead when he'd left. Still...

Perhaps Eric Charlton wasn't dead after all, and if he wasn't, then Will was going to have to take care of that.

...

Barney stood near the doorway as Lee entered the apartment. Memories flooded him as he began to look around. He pictured Emily everywhere. He remembered hanging out with Eric in the living room and playing video games. He heard clacking on the floor, and Shadow came around the corner. Lee froze, but Shadow simply wagged his tail furiously and ran over to him.

"Hey, buddy," Lee said, petting him and rubbing his ears as the dog whined. The dog was a bit older and greyer around the edges, but he was still Shadow. "I missed you too."

"You better hurry up," Barney commented.

"Yea, yea," Lee said, stopping and continuing on. Shadow followed him around the apartment as he searched. In Eric's room, he noticed that things were a bit messier than usual. He knew his friend was not a neat freak, but he wasn't this messy either. Lee bent to pick up a binder from the floor, and a piece of paper fell out. He read it, frowning.

**Eric, this is a grand opportunity. Call me. Will.**

A number was behind the message. Lee pocketed it and kept searching. He found no other evidence of a Will in Eric's room. He stepped out into the hallway and paused outside Emily's door. He couldn't help himself. He nudged it open and went in. The first thing he noticed was how much it smelled like her. He almost stopped in his tracks when it hit him. Forcing himself to continue, he scanned for clues. His eyes stopped on the picture frames beside her bed, and he felt his heart almost stop.

"Lee?" Barney called. "You done yet?"

Lee stepped forward slowly, his eyes never leaving the one photograph. He picked it up, feeling numb and in shock. A little boy in Emily's arms was looking back up at him, beaming. He was about four years old, Lee guessed. He swallowed. His hand was shaking again. Had she gotten with James after he died? Was the boy James's? He felt that familiar anger towards James then.

"Lee, come on. I hear someone."

He forced himself to put the picture back down and backed out of the room. He reached Barney, and they exited the apartment and went down the hall a bit just as feet approached them.

"Excuse us," a lady said, smiling. She had a young boy by the hand, and he was looking up at them. Lee instantly recognized him as the boy from the photo in Emily's room.

"No problem," Barney smiled back, stepping aside.

"Hi," the boy said, waving.

"Hi," Barney said back. Lee was silent, his tongue unable to form words.

"I forgot my stuffy," the boy went on.

"Oh no," Barney commented. "That's not good."

"Yes, well, it's a good thing we're just down the hall," the woman laughed.

"My name's Eddie Lee Jones," the boy said cheerily. "I'm four."

"Cool," Barney grinned.

Lee had to reach and rest his hand on the wall to prevent from falling over.

"Eddie, come on now," the woman said. "The men have to get going."

"Okay," Eddie said. "Bye!"

"Bye, bye," Barney waved as they made their way to Eric and Emily's apartment door. Lee was already heading down the hall to the stairs. Barney caught up to him. Lee was breathing hard by this point and seeing spots. He had a son? Was it his son? He had to be his son. Why else did he have Lee's name?!

They tromped down the stairs heavily until Lee had enough and stopped, making Barney almost run into him.

"What...?" he started.

"Did you know?" Lee demanded.

"Know what?"

"That she had a son?"

"No. I did not know."

"How did you not know? You said you came to check on her! You talked to Eric!"

"I only saw her at work. I didn't come near this place. I never saw her with a kid. I swear. And Eric didn't tell me." Barney frowned at this. Why _wouldn't_ Eric tell him? Or was they why he was working so hard to make Barney tell Emily the truth?

"Oh my God," Lee said, rubbing his face hard and feeling like he was having a panic attack.

"You don't know if he's yours for sure."

"The timeline is a little coincidental. And his name? Eddie Lee Jones? It's my name with her father's name."

"Maybe she got with someone right before you came back. Maybe she just likes your name."

"Not helping!" Lee said angrily, thinking about James again. Barney held up his hands.

"Okay. Let's just drop it for now. Did you find anything?"

"Yea. A note from a guy named Will."

"Then let's figure out who Will is. Sound good?"

"Fine," Lee growled. He followed Barney out of the building, and they went to check into a motel. Lee's head was still spinning. If Eddie was his son, and he was certain he was because his gut said so, then he missed out on a lot of milestones. His son wouldn't understand why his father played dead. This entire situation just got majorly worse.

...

Emily got home and collected Eddie from Nancy Wilson's place. She was so grateful for the woman and all the times she took Eddie with no questions asked.

"Did you have fun with Mrs. Wilson?"

"I did," Eddie nodded. Emily smiled and rubbed his hair affectionately. He looked so much like Lee and Eric it wasn't funny. They went into the apartment where Shadow greeted them eagerly.

"Yes, yes," Emily said, petting him. The dog had grown on her a lot since Lee had died. She felt connected to Lee through the dog, which normally she would have called someone crazy for doing that. In this case, though, it felt very sane. The dog was extra chipper tonight, though, which made Emily frown at him. Normally Shadow had a subdued, almost depressed state about him since Lee had died.

"When is Uncle Eric coming home?" Eddie asked, interrupting her thoughts. Emily's stomach twisted. Her son was too little to understand, but he was more perceptive at times than she realized.

"He's still sick," she answered. "He's staying at the hospital for a while, remember?"

"Right," Eddie nodded.

"Let's get you ready for bed," Emily said. Eddie ran off ahead of her towards the bathroom. Emily paused in the hallway, sensing something. She looked around and felt a bit strange, like someone had been in there. She examined the apartment carefully, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. She chalked it up to nerves, and went to help her son get ready for bed.

...

Miranda Priestly sat at home and thought about Emily Charlton. She had heard through gossip circles about what had happened to her brother, that he was dead. Miranda thought about reaching out to her, but she refrained. She knew Emily was furious with her still about what she'd said to her five years ago about Lee Jones. Miranda sniffed. She still held her ground on that statement. Michael Jones had been into illegal activities. She'd known it because she had lived in London and knew the family. Well, her cousin, Laurie, had been married to Michael, and Laurie had shared some information about what was going on before they both wound up dead. The boy, Lee, had gone to his uncle's. Miranda hadn't wanted anything to do with him, not that she figured Laurie would have had it written anywhere that Miranda was to become the boy's legal guardian. Then, as fate would have it, that same boy winds up dating her employee. Miranda had to protect Emily because Emily did not deserve to have the same fate as her cousin, Laurie. Unfortunately, Miranda didn't get her point across well enough, and Emily had almost wound up dead alongside Lee.

"Mum?"

She blinked, seeing her one daughter standing in front of her.

"Yes, dear?"

Her twins were 16 now. Time certainly went fast.

"Caroline is trying to sneak out again," Cassidy said. Miranda sighed.

"Thank you."

Caroline seemed to enjoy the night life. At almost 17 and done with high school already, the girl thought she was invincible. Miranda loathed being a single parent sometimes.

"All right, Caroline," Miranda said to herself. "You want to play, let's play."

Thoughts of Emily, her brother, and Lee Jones were now far from her mind.

* * *

**I always love to hear your thoughts :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Lee turned the paper over and over in his hands, wondering what Eric had gotten himself into. Who was this Will person? Was he responsible for what happened to Eric? What opportunity was he referring to?

"I've got Yang looking into your brother's bar footage," Barney said, joining him on at the table. They were in a small cafe. It was getting late, but Lee didn't care. He wasn't tired. The other thing that he couldn't stop thinking about was the boy, Eddie.

"How? The tapes were gone."

"Camera across the street. Yang is pretty resourceful."

"Mmhmm," was his reply to Barney.

"Hey, we'll find this bastard," Barney promised, putting a hand on Lee's shoulder tightly. "He will pay for what he did to Eric."

"What if this guy goes after Emily next?" Lee asked.

"Hold that thought," Barney said as his phone started to ring. "Yang? Whaddya got?"

Lee sat quietly as Barney listened. His mind was being savage and imagining the worst case scenario in regards to what could happen to Emily. He gave himself a small shake, trying to get it out of his head.

"All right. Thanks, man."

"Well?" Lee asked after Barney hung up.

"William Pearce," Barney answered. "Yang couldn't get clear footage from the night of the attack, but the footage went back farther. Yang scouted out for anything odd looking, and this guy was in there about a week ago. He was hauling out a crate."

"Okay, so we know who. We just don't know why or what the opportunity was," Lee nodded.

"Well," Barney said, taking the number from Lee. "Why don't we find out?"

...

Will looked at his phone and frowned. He didn't like unknown callers. Then again, he understood the need for privacy in this type of business.

"This is Pearce," he answered.

"Pearce, this is Stinson," a voice said. "I've heard you're the man to call."

"Oh yea? Who told you that?"

"Not important. So can you hook me up?"

"What are you looking for in particular?" Will asked, sensing something off about this conversation.

"You tell me, man. What's your specialty?"

"Well, I've got heroin or cocaine."

"What's your price?"

Will gave it to him, but he still felt off about the whole thing.

"Where can we meet?" the Stinson fellow asked.

"Give me your number, and I'll call you with it in a day's time," Will answered.

"Hey, Pearce? You there?"

Crackling noises could be heard in the phone now. Will pulled his phone from his ear and looked at it, a pensive look on his face.

"Pearce? I...losing...you..."

The line went dead. Will stood there with his phone in his hand and wondered what had just happened.

...

"Drugs," Lee said, looking at Barney, who had just finished faking bad reception and hung up from talking to Will. He'd overheard.

"Looks like it."

"Why would Eric be messed up with that?" Lee asked. "That's not like him."

"Maybe him saying no is what got him in the hospital," Barney said thoughtfully.

That scenario made more sense, but Lee still wondered why.

"Oh, shit," Barney said, looking at his phone. Yang had texted him.

"What?"

"William Pearce is also a police officer."

"What?"

"Yea."

"Bastard." This angered Lee to no end. Corrupt police officers were a major pet peeve for him.

Barney tapped the phone in his hand while Lee pressed his fingers into his forehead.

"So how are we gonna do this?" he asked after a moment. Barney looked thoughtful.

"We don't exactly have proof he did this to Eric," he answered.

"My gut says..."

"I know what your gut says," Barney cut him off. "And my gut agrees, but we have to find evidence first."

"So what's the plan?" Lee asked, looking at him. Barney inhaled slowly and exhaled loudly. He was thinking about Eric, how the guy deserved answers and to be avenged.

"I'm gonna call the boys," he answered finally. "Tell them to load up and get on out here."

"All right," Lee nodded. As long as they were doing something, he didn't feel completely useless.

...

Emily opened her apartment door the next morning to find William Pearce standing there looking at her. Her mother had gotten there late the night before and was still sleeping. They had been up late talking, so Emily was tired.

"Oh...hi," she said.

"Hey," he replied. "I'm so sorry about Eric."

Emily wondered what all he knew. She wasn't telling anyone that her brother was fighting for his life in the hospital. She didn't trust anyone not to spread the word, and she didn't want to get him killed by being a dithering idiot. She knew Will worked on the police force, though, so she wondered if he knew the truth. She sure wasn't going to tell him, though.

"Thank you," she commented.

"May I?" he asked, gesturing.

"Come in," she nodded, stepping back. He came into the apartment, looking around.

"It seems like so long ago we were working at _Runway_ together," William chuckled.

"You were only there six months," Emily snorted. William Pearce had been working security, and she had only seen him in passing most of the time, but she remembered he had been flirty with her. This was after Lee had died and before she had left _Runway_ (she'd left after Eddie was born), though, so she hadn't given it any thought. William did not give up easily, though, and he had been after her ever since. She'd just always said no.

"It was long enough," William laughed. He sat down at the table, folding his hands in front of him. "I admired you, though, for doing what you did with that bitch, beating her at her own game and becoming her competition."

"May I ask why you're sitting in my kitchen?" Emily questioned, standing with crossed arms and looking at him.

"Can't a friend just come and support another friend?" he countered.

"I didn't realize we were friends," Emily said. Something didn't feel right here. William gave a small laugh and a smile.

"I always thought there was a...connection between us," he shrugged. "I'm sure I've told you that before."

"I never felt it," she replied.

"Well...that's too bad," William said, standing up then. "I'm a pretty decent guy."

"Thank you for coming by," Emily said firmly.

"I'd love to see you again," he tried.

She went to open the door for him, and he nodded, getting the hint.

"Take care," he said.

She didn't respond as she shut the door behind him. How dare he come here right after what happened to Eric and hint at asking her out?! Jerk. She shook her head and shuddered. It was better to be a single mother anyway. She wasn't interested in dating anyone. It was hard to be with someone else when you were still in love with a dead man.

...

Miranda looked up from her desk as her latest assistant came in. Valerie was not bad at her job, but she was no Emily or Andrea. Miranda sometimes wished things had been different and she still had those women on her team, but being wishful meant being silly, and Miranda was not a silly woman. She did wish that she was allowed a second assistant again. Budget cuts were so annoying.

"What?" she snapped. Valerie flinched.

"Um...a Detective William Pearce is here to see you," she said nervously.

"Fine. Send him in," Miranda waved. Valerie scuttled out, and in seconds, William entered.

"Miranda, good to see you," he smiled.

"Well, well," Miranda said, pulling off her glasses to look at him. "Security guard turned detective. What causes you to step into my office?"

"Caroline," William answered. Miranda's face changed instantly.

"What happened? Is she all right?" she demanded.

"That depends," he said. "I caught her and her friends using."

"Using what?"

"Cocaine."

Oh, the irony. William was probably the person who'd supplied it to the kids' dealer, but he dismissed that thought. He didn't force anyone to take the drugs. He just sold them.

"Oh my God," Miranda said, gripping at her face. Caroline was using drugs. She felt sick. How many times had she told her girls to stay away from drugs? Alcohol when they were old enough, fine, but not drugs. Alcohol was it's own problem, and Miranda knew that Caroline was drinking underage too. She didn't know how to make her stop.

"They were skipping school. She's sitting at the station right now," William explained. Miranda got to her feet and hurried out to where Valerie was sitting. She grabbed her purse and coat from the hanger beside Valerie.

"I'm leaving. I will not be back today," she said.

"Oh...okay," Valerie nodded. Miranda followed William out of the building and then by car to the station. Caroline looked terrible when Miranda approached her.

"I'm sorry, Mom..." she started. It was obvious she was coming down from some kind of a high.

"Stop it," Miranda said sharply. "I'll deal with you when we're home."

"There aren't any charges being laid this time because she wasn't in possession of the cocaine, her friend was," William told her then. "And I'm being lenient this time around as a favor to you, but you might want to nip this before it gets out of hand because next time, I won't be so lenient."

"I can raise my daughter, thank you," Miranda said coldly. She gripped Caroline by the elbow and dragged her out.

"Mom, you're hurting me," Caroline snarled. She yanked out of Miranda's grip, and they stood on the street glaring at each other.

"Drugs, Caroline? Really? Skipping classes?" Miranda challenged.

"Take me home," Caroline ordered.

"You're grounded."

"Big deal."

"I mean it. No TV, no friends, and no phone."

"Whatever."

Caroline got into the car and slammed the door shut behind her. Miranda was shaking inside. Things were just getting harder and harder with this girl.

...

Lee had given the officer at the hospital the slip again. The guy was an idiot, Lee gathered. Easily distracted. He wondered how he had gotten the job. He stood beside Eric, looking down at him.

"Did you find out that Pearce was a dirty cop?" he asked. "Is that what happened?"

Eric's chest rose and fell with the machine, and Lee wanted to be sick. He hated seeing his friend this way.

"If I hadn't been off playing dead, this wouldn't have happened," Lee went on. "I'm sorry, Eric. It wasn't supposed to go like this."

He stood in silence for a bit, staring at Eric.

"Excuse me?"

Lee turned around to see a nurse standing there. She was glaring at him.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I got the wrong room, sorry," Lee said. "This guy looks real bad, though. Is he gonna make it?"

"Sir, you can't be in this room," she said firmly.

"I'm sorry. I really did get the wrong room," Lee said, moving away. She didn't say anything else as Lee slipped out of the room and down the hall. He knew that if he came back here, he'd have to be really careful.

...

Rosemary and Emily entered Eric's room, and Rosemary started to cry at the sight of her son lying there. She gripped Emily's hand tightly.

"This is horrible," she whispered.

"I know," Emily nodded.

"Who did this to him?"

"We still don't know."

"I hope they catch them. I hope they are punished," Rosemary said furiously. She was thinking about her husband, Edward, and how she couldn't bear to lose another member of her family.

They sat down on either side of him, and Rosemary held his hand tightly in hers. Emily watched her mother cry, and she wished none of this had happened. She wished a lot of things.

...

Barney looked up when Lee returned to their hotel room. The rest of the gang was in there with him now. Toll, Gunner, Caesar, and Yang were spread out the room, and they were all looking at Lee.

"Where were you?" Barney asked.

"Checking in on Eric," Lee answered.

"Get caught?"

"Almost."

"Might wanna lay off that for a bit."

"I'm going to."

"We're really sorry, man," Toll said to him then. "About your friend."

"Thanks," Lee nodded. He crossed his arms, leaning against the kitchenette counter.

"I'm doing some digging on Pearce," Yang promised. "He won't stay secret for long."

"He's a dirty cop," Gunner growled. "What more info do we need?"

"Enough to stay two steps ahead of him," Barney answered. "Good work, Yang. Keep it up."

Lee wanted to find this man and hurt him as badly as Eric had been hurt. He also wished he could just go to Emily and help her through this because he knew she was not doing well with it. The thing was, he had no idea what he'd even say anyway.

...

Emily was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking down at the photo of her and Lee that had been taken by her mother while she'd been there helping out after Emily had been hit by the car. Lee was laughing with his forehead pressed against the side of Emily's head, and she was looking at the camera with a bemused smile on her face. Eddie padded in then, his stuffed bear dragging behind him. He crawled up onto the bed and sat next to Emily, looking at the photo with her. Rosemary was still at the hospital with Eric. She had been there all day.

"He looked nice," Eddie commented.

"Excuse me?" Emily asked, confused. She looked at her son.

"Yesterday in the hallway. He didn't talk, but he looked nice," Eddie said, chipper. Emily felt as though her heart stopped. She couldn't breathe.

"Eddie," she started. "You saw this man?" She pointed at Lee in the picture.

"It's Daddy, right? You said he was my daddy," Eddie said.

"You saw him here?" she pressed.

"Mrs. Wilson was bringing me to get my stuffy. He and another man were in the hall. The other man was really nice to me."

Emily thought she might die. If this was true...

"I thought Daddy was in Heaven," Eddie said, giving her a puzzled look.

"So did I," she said weakly.

"Maybe he's back!"

"It doesn't work that way, sweetheart."

"I know it was him," Eddie insisted. Emily looked at her son, and she desperately wanted it to be true for both their sake.

"Okay," she said simply.

If her son was right and he saw his father yesterday, then it meant Lee Christmas was not dead at all.

And she had no idea what to do with that information.

* * *

**I really hope this story is still interesting. We are getting closer to Lee and Emily crossing paths, I promise.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you, Guest, for your review! It makes me happy to know that folks out there are enjoying what I write :)**

* * *

Emily's brain was on fire. Eddie was coloring now, and she was watching him as she unconsciously fingered Lee's St. Christopher medal around her neck. There was no way he saw Lee yesterday. Lee was dead. She had been given his ashes...

She crossed and uncrossed her arms. Lee was dead. There was no possible way he was still alive. He had died on the operating table. The doctor had told her himself. She felt a terrible mix of emotions just then. She suddenly decided she wanted to know the truth. She went into her room and pulled out the box she rarely looked at anymore because it hurt too much. She rummaged until she found Lee's old cell phone. She plugged it into the wall, praying for a miracle. When it came on, she was mightily impressed. It was an old phone, and she figured it wouldn't even charge let alone turn on. She was grateful to be proven wrong. She went through his contacts and found the one that said "Barney." She called it.

...

"What the hell?" Barney asked, frowning at his phone. It was old, but he was stubborn and didn't want to bother getting a new one until this one completely died because he felt the newer phones didn't last as long as the older ones did.

"What?" Lee questioned, going to stand next to him. Barney looked at Lee sharply.

"Why are you calling me?"

"I'm not..."

"It says 'Christmas,'" Barney said, showing him the caller identification. Lee felt his stomach drop. What was happening?

...

"Yea, it's Barney. You know what to do."

The voicemail was abrupt, and Emily hung up before it beeped. He still had the same number. She didn't want to leave a message. How did she even start anyway? _Hi, my name's Emily, if you recall, and I think you might know that my boyfriend isn't really dead?_

No. That wouldn't work. Emily exhaled hard. Eddie had to be mistaken. He was four. Emily herself had seen a lot of men that looked like Lee over the years, and every one gave her heart a jump start only to be crashed with disappointment. No. Lee was dead, and Eddie saw a look alike. She put her face into her hands.

Oh, how that part of her really wanted it to be true, though.

"Luv?" Rosemary called, coming in then. Emily went to join her as she pulled her coat off.

"How are you?" Emily asked.

"Drained," Rosemary sighed. "I'm so scared he's never going to wake up."

"Me too."

"You going to go back and see him again?"

"Yes," Emily nodded. They'd agreed to take shifts instead of both of them sitting there together all day. She had left her mother there before lunch and said she'd come back later. "You're okay to watch Eddie?"

"I'm more than okay," Rosemary smiled tiredly. Eddie came rushing out then to hug his grandmother, and she picked him up and started chatting away with him about the picture he was coloring. Emily got ready to leave, and wondered if she would find Lee in Eric's hospital room when she got there. For some reason, she was thinking about the back of the man she'd seen disappear around the corner the other day in the hospital while she'd been talking to the doctor. Had it been Lee? She had so much anticipation when she left.

...

"Who has your old phone, Lee?" Barney demanded when his stopped ringing. No voicemail was left.

"I don't know," Lee answered. "You were the one who pulled rank and made me die. I have no idea what happened to my stuff."

"Would Emily have it?" Toll asked.

Lee swallowed. It was a very high possibility. If she did, though, then why was she calling Barney? Was she in trouble? Did she think he could help with her brother?

"She probably does," Barney answered Toll. "But why call me?"

"Eddie," Lee said, realizing. "Eddie would have told her about seeing us yesterday."

"How?"

"There's pictures of me in that apartment, Barney. He'd make the connection," Lee reasoned.

"You think she'd believe him?" Barney asked.

"I think that's why she called you," Lee answered. "To find out."

"Shit," Barney said. "This is not good."

"No, Barney, it isn't," Lee agreed. "This is not how I wanted her to find out."

"Guys?" Yang interrupted. "Pearce is going to meet with some men." He had William's phone tagged and knew what was going on.

"Where?" Barney asked.

"Some abandoned warehouse."

"Let's go," Toll said, getting up. He and Gunner went together. Lee stayed back with Yang and Barney. Caesar was out getting them something to eat.

"If she calls again, don't answer it," Lee ordered.

"I won't," Barney promised.

...

"You think this is a drug deal?" Toll asked Gunner as they sat in their rental car and watched Will greet his company with smiles and handshakes.

"No idea," Gunner answered.

"I figured you'd know," Toll countered. "Being a former drug addict and all."

"I had a dealer, but it was nowhere near fancy like this," Gunner commented, watching. "While I appreciate your confidence in me recognizing what a drug deal looks like, I can't confirm."

"Might be something unrelated then," Toll figured, ignoring the sarcasm.

"Possibly."

They continued to watch.

...

"I have him," Yang said a while later. Lee and Barney went over to stand behind him, looking at the computer screen. Caesar was busy trying to catch all the dangling cheese from his pizza slice.

"What is it?" Barney asked.

"Camera farther down the street has him leaving Eric's bar right after the attack. He wasn't so good after all."

"No, you're just better," Caesar commented.

"There's our evidence," Barney said.

"We can't be the only ones who know this," Lee argued. "Someone had to have figured this out like we did."

"Probably," Yang agreed. "They're probably going to bait him."

"Not if we get to him first," Barney said.

"You think that's wise?" Lee asked.

"You want revenge or not?" Barney challenged.

"I want it."

"Then we get him first."

"I've got his address finally," Yang noted, looking at William's phone records and messages again.

"Snatch and grab?" Lee asked Barney.

"Yea. Snatch and grab."

...

Emily was at the hospital with her brother and feeling very disappointed to see Lee was not there. Maybe it hadn't been him after all that Eddie had seen. She tried to picture the man's back she'd seen again, but it was a bit blurry now. She had convinced herself it had been him, but it couldn't have been. Then there was Eddie saying he'd seen him. It was all so emotionally draining. She was lost in thought when she received a text message.

**I have information about your brother. Come over ASAP. Will.**

She frowned. What could Will have found out? Surely he wasn't privy to information about Eric? In the end, her curiosity won. She called and told her mother she was going to be home later, and she made her way over to Will's house.

"I didn't think you'd come," Will said as he opened the door and saw her standing there.

"What did you find out?"

"He's alive, isn't he?" he countered without answering her. Emily didn't want to answer. She suddenly had a bad feeling.

"What did you find out?" she asked again.

"You know, I'm a good cop, Emily. Damn it, I'm the best cop out there," William said, getting angry. "I can find out who did this to him! I can make sure nothing happens to you!"

"You think something is going to happen to me?" she asked, incredulous.

"I do! This guy is dangerous, Em," Will said to her, moving in closer. "I'm afraid he's gonna target you next." Of course, he was referring to himself. He would take her out if he had to. If Eric was alive and told her the truth, they both needed to go. His operations had to stay safe and unknown.

Emily said nothing as she stared at him. She was beyond irritated that he called her Em. Only Eric and Lee could do that.

"I think you're lying," she said.

...

"Bandanas up," Barney instructed. They all obeyed. Lee almost laughed because they all looked a little bit ridiculous. He pulled his black toque down low too so that only his eyes showed.

"Remind me again why we gotta look like a creepy skeleton?" Caesar asked, his voice muffled by the fabric.

"Does it matter?" Gunner retorted.

"I'm all for the secrecy, but it's not Halloween," Caesar went on. He had a thing about skeletons. He was pretty sure Barney knew that from the smirk that was on his face.

"You ate too much pizza, man. I can smell your cheese and onion breath from here," Toll said. "It's making my eyes water, and you're even wearing a bandana for cripe's sake." Caesar exhaled loud and hard beside Toll's head just to annoy him further. Toll shoved him back in return.

"You know what to do," Barney said, ignoring them. "We find Pearce and get him out of there."

"You really think it's gonna be easy?" Yang asked.

"It better be."

"Okay, let's just do this already," Lee said. He felt off beat lately. He kept seeing Emily everywhere even though it wasn't actually her. He was on edge, and he wanted this to be over so he could finish his death sentence already. He'd gone over a thousand different conversations with Emily for when he saw her, but none of them were good enough.

"Here we go," Barney said, opening the back door. The six men hurried inside and split up.

...

"Wait here," Will said. "I'll show you what I found. Then you'll know I'm not lying." He was going to show her something fake, of course. He needed her to confirm that Eric was alive or not.

Emily paced while she waited. She looked up when she saw two men come in dressed in black with disturbing looking bandanas over their faces. Her confusion was first and foremost, but then fear started to take over. What was happening? Why were there scary looking men suddenly here? Were they here for her like Will had just said? The toothy grins of the skeletons on their bandanas wasn't helping.

"Whoa," the one (Caesar) started. "He's got company."

"Who are you?" Emily asked.

"Someone who doesn't play nice with dirty cops," the second man (Gunner) said. "Unless you wanna hang around to find out what that's gonna be like, I'd leave if I were you."

Emily stood stock still, staring at them. Dirty cop? Was he referring to Will? What caught her attention the most, though, was the tattoo on the man's shoulder. She blinked. She had seen that tattoo before. It was a raven sitting on a skull. Her heart rate picked up. She looked at the men again properly. She realized she had seen them before.

"We're serious, ma'am," Caesar said to her as she approached them slowly. "You gotta get out of here."

He had a tattoo as well. Emily felt her head start to spin.

"You're Expendables," she said faintly. Both men looked at each other quizzically. How did she know that? Then, they suddenly realized who it was.

"Shit," Gunner said. Emily definitely looked different from the time they'd seen her last.

"Ma'am, please leave now," Caesar tried again. Without thinking, Emily ran for the stairs. Somehow she just knew that Barney would be after Will since it was his home after all, and if Will was a dirty cop, then Barney was probably set to kill. When she found him, she had a lot of questions for him.

"Shit!" Caesar hissed. "We got a runner! She went up the stairs!"

"Toll? Lee?" Barney's voice came back.

"We'll redirect," Toll answered.

Gunner and Caesar didn't chase after her because after all, they didn't want to alert Will to their company just yet.

...

Lee and Toll had already burst into Will's office, guns aimed, when Caesar warned them of the runner. Gunner's voice was drowned out by Barney's, so they missed who he said it was. Will put his hands up immediately.

"What is this about?" he asked calmly. It was then that someone came in behind them, the runner of course. Lee caught sight of her in his peripheral, and he froze.

"Will? What's going on?" she asked. She looked at both Toll and Lee, her face a mixture of fear and confusion, but there was also disappointment there too. Had she been expecting someone else? Toll looked at Lee and knew that something was wrong.

"It's nothing, Emily," Will answered. "Don't worry about it."

_Emily?!_ Toll resisted gaping at Lee. No wonder Lee was shell shocked. Toll had only met her once over five years ago, so he didn't remember what she looked like all that well. Then again, her hair was a darker brown almost, and she looked older. She also wasn't 90 pounds soaking wet anymore.

"Men with guns aimed at us seems like something to worry about," Emily retorted.

"Mr. Pearce," Toll started while Lee stayed mute. "You're coming with us."

"What?" Emily asked, looking at Will.

"They're delusional," Will answered. "I'm not going anywhere with them." Lee gripped his gun tightly in his hands.

"Mr. Pearce," Toll repeated. "I can assure you that you don't want to play hard to get."

Will smiled at both men. It was the type of smile that Lee wanted to smack off with the back of his hand.

"I'm not one to run off with people I don't know," Will finally said. Emily was looking at Toll and Lee again, and Lee avoided looking directly at her. It hurt so much that she was right there and he couldn't even reveal himself. He couldn't do it in front of Will.

"People can change," Toll said sarcastically.

"That we can," Will agreed. "But...not today." He whipped out his gun like lightning, firing at them. Lee didn't even think. He turned and threw himself on top of Emily, knocking them both down as bullets whizzed overhead. Toll fired back at Will, who dodged and jumped out the window. Toll was after him at top speed.

Emily felt shaken as she looked up at the man who had protected her. He was looking down at her, not saying a word. She felt like she was dreaming, though, because his eyes...they were the same eyes she saw in her mind every single night, the same eyes she saw on her son each and every day, and the same eyes she had spent a lot of time looking into when she'd been tangled up in a certain someone's arms. She moved her hand to pull down his bandana, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Lee?" she whispered. He still said nothing. He stood then and pulled her to her feet, pushing her towards the door. The message was clear. She was to get out.

"Lee," she said again. He just walked away and jumped out the window after Will and the other gunman, and Emily didn't know what to feel as she stumbled down the hall and down the stairs to go outside.

...

"Shit," Lee said once he was on the ground and back to their van. He punched the side of it, swearing loudly and then cursing at himself for hurting his hand. Emily was there. Why was Emily there? And why did he almost get caught?! No, he did get caught. She had known it was him. Her facial expression was trapped in his mind. He didn't even know how to describe it.

"Lee? Status?" Barney's voice asked.

"I'm outside. Toll's chasing Will."

"He can't get away," Barney said.

"No shit," Gunner commented.

"I think we've lost him," Yang said.

Lee stopped listening to the rest. All he could think about was Emily. The fact that she had said his name freaked him out. She knew who he was. How could he have thought otherwise? How many times had he stared into her eyes when they were together? It was a stupid, careless thing he had just done. It was not how he wanted to do this, not how he wanted her to find out. He knew he was going to have to find her now and explain everything, and he was terrified of what her response was going to be.

* * *

**What you've all been waiting for (I'm assuming) is coming in the next chapter! :D Stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you, Guest, for your review! I hope you like this chapter too :)**

* * *

Emily's breathing was very labored as she reached her apartment. She had fled Will's place because she felt like she was drowning and didn't want to see what was going to happen next. She hadn't seen Barney. If she had, she would have confronted him. She stopped in the hallway, propping her hand on the wall to hold herself up. She felt like sobbing. She felt badly for doubting her son because she was now very sure she had just seen Lee in the flesh herself. Her mind kept jumping back to the moment he was looking at her, and she just _knew_. But why hadn't he said something? What was he doing? Was she just delusional? She clutched his pendant so hard in her hand that it left an indent.

"Are you all right, luv?" Rosemary asked, opening the door and seeing her there. "I thought I heard crying."

"I'm just...I've had enough," Emily gasped. Rosemary went to hug her tightly then, rocking her back and forth.

"I know, I know," she said. "But I have faith your brother is going to be just fine."

Emily clung to her mother and said nothing. She wasn't ready to share that the love of her life was most likely not dead like they'd been told. She didn't want to complicate things before they even started.

...

"She saw you?" Barney asked as they waited. Lee nodded miserably.

"She said my name," he added. "She knew it was me."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Damn it," Toll said, coming into view out of breath and interrupting. "He got away. I chased him for like five blocks. He's freaking fast."

"Now he knows we're after him," Barney sighed. "So much for the element of surprise."

"He's going to use Emily," Lee said then. "Why else would he have invited her here? He's probably found out Eric isn't dead, and he's going to do something to her to get back at Eric."

"So what's our plan now?" Caesar asked, looking around at them all. Barney looked at Lee, who was clenching his jaw and fists.

"What do you think?"

"I think," Lee started, "that I have to come back from the dead fully."

"All right," Barney nodded, knowing what he meant. He clapped Lee's shoulder. "Good luck."

...

Emily checked in on Eddie as he slept. She could see Lee in her son's features so clearly. She couldn't stop thinking about the man from earlier and how much he resembled Lee as well. Unable to sleep, she got up and paced the apartment. Her mother refused to sleep in Eric's room, so Emily had given hers up and was on the couch. She looked out the window at the city and decided that she needed some air. Even though she had just been there, she went back to see her brother because she needed to be with him. She felt that if she was just there, maybe he would wake up. She didn't want him to wake up alone. She also had a suspicion that if Lee really was alive, that's where he'd be right now since it was later in the evening.

...

"Who the hell...?" Miranda started as she opened the door. She saw Detective William Pearce standing there looking terrified.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I just need a place to sit tight until help comes," he answered.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm being chased. I'm hiding," Will clarified.

"And you brought the trouble to me?" she asked, incredulous. How dare he!

"I won't be long, I promise," Will said. "I just need to borrow your phone."

"Fine," Miranda huffed. "But make it quick."

...

Emily was both surprised and not surprised to see someone else in Eric's room when she got there, especially since that someone was most definitely Lee Christmas. She knew that after seeing her, he'd probably be here, waiting for her. She gathered it wasn't his first time there, but she had been there a lot, so he must have been very careful to avoid her. This somehow hurt even more, knowing he had deliberately kept his return to the living a secret still. She entered Eric's hospital room quietly. Lee's back was to her as he stood and looked down at his friend. Emily briefly wondered where the officer standing guard was. She meant to speak to his captain about his continuous disappearances.

"This is all my fault," Lee was saying. "I should never have left. I should never have gone along with Barney's stupid idea. I've wasted so much time, and I wasn't here to help you when you needed me the most. I'm so sorry."

She waited, silent. She had no idea what to even say to him anyway. She was trembling from shock and nerves.

"I almost came back, you know," Lee went on, still oblivious to her standing there. "I figured the hell with it, that I'd catch the guy when he came to try again, but I couldn't do that to her, Eric. I couldn't risk her getting killed. I loved her too much for that. She deserved to live her life free from fear, and the best way to get that was without me in it."

Emily was tearing up now. She hugged herself tightly.

"If I could do it all again," Lee said now. "I wouldn't go through with it. I would have made sure I killed the guy properly the first time."

Emily couldn't take it anymore. She stepped forward, her shoes squeaking on the floor and making Lee spin around to face her.

"Em?" he asked. He knew she'd come back there after seeing him. He knew that she knew he'd be there. That's how well they knew each other. She stopped in front of him, jutting her chin out at him in that familiar way he had missed so much. They stood there looking at one another until Emily finally slugged him in the chest. Lee took it along with the second one she threw at him. He knew he deserved it. Emily gave him a shove next, and he hit the table on wheels, saving himself before falling. She went after him, furious for being betrayed and hurt so badly by him. He hit the wall after her next shove, and she kept slamming her fist into his chest, but she was crying harder before too long and couldn't see well to aim her blows. He caught her wrists after a moment before she ended up punching the wall and hurting herself.

"I'm sorry, Em," he said. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry doesn't change anything!" she shouted, yanking out of his grasp. Her fists were balled now, and she was glaring at him.

"Don't stop hurting me," he told her. "God knows I deserve it."

Emily seriously considered slapping him as hard as she could, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Plus, her fists already hurt from hitting him.

"Hurting you doesn't change what happened," she said after a moment when she had stopped crying.

"Em," he tried, putting his hand on her shoulder. She jerked back and stepped away from him. It hurt him to see her so repulsed by his touch, but he also understood. She moved to leave when he spoke again.

"I was coming here to tell you the truth before this all happened," he called after her. "But when I heard what happened to Eric, I decided to stay hidden for a little while until I'd found who did this to him."

"You should have told me," Emily said as she stood in the doorway. "You should have told me you were still alive from the beginning. You had no right making that choice without me."

"And what would you have done, Em?" Lee asked. "Huh? What would you have done if I had told you?"

"I would have gone with you," she answered, her voice taut and in a whisper. Lee had no response for this, so she left. Shaking like a leaf, she walked out and didn't look back.

...

Lee made his way back to where Barney and the others were. He felt hollow inside and angry at himself. His body hurt from where Emily had struck him. He had expected her rage but had also been surprised at her force.

"Well?" Barney asked when he saw him come in.

"She's mad," he answered.

"We all knew that," Toll snorted.

"She hit you?" Gunner asked.

"Yea, man, did she kick you?" Caesar asked. He had his money on a kick to the shin or other places.

"You get the tracker on her?" Barney questioned. Lee nodded, ignoring both Gunner and Caesar. He'd stuck it to the back of her shirt when he had touched her shoulder.

"Pull it up," Barney ordered Yang, who obliged. They watched the red dot make its way around on the screen.

"Where is she going?" Lee asked. She was not heading towards the apartment. He felt concerned. Was Will luring her again?

"She's here," Yang answered, pulling up a screen shot of a building. Lee swallowed. He recognized that place. What the hell was she doing at the devil's house this time of night?

"Come on," he said. "I don't like this at all."

...

No sooner had Emily left Lee than she got a message on her phone. She was angry at Lee and feeling emotional and all sorts of other things that confused her, but she read the message. Emily had been shocked to see that it was from Miranda and then concerned when reading that Miranda desperately needed help and didn't know who else to call. Feeling reluctant to see or speak to this woman, Emily had decided to help because Emily wasn't that horrible of a person. If someone was desperate for help, she would help them. She'd pass Miranda off to the police in no time anyway if it involved something like that. That way Miranda couldn't tell the world that Emily ignored her, which wouldn't be good for her career.

She reached Miranda's mansion after leaving the hospital, and she got out of the cab, giving him his money. She wondered what Miranda needed help with as she walked up to the front door. She hesitated, not knowing what to say to Miranda after all this time. She knew she was wasting time, but a part of her was still afraid of the Devil Woman. She must have stood there for almost ten minutes, debating.

After deciding, she breathed in, reaching to ring the bell.

A hand clapped across her mouth as an arm snaked around her waist and lifted her from behind, pulling her back from the door. She shouted into the hand and tried to kick her attacker. They were very strong, though.

"It's me," Lee's voice said, and she froze as her brain worked hard to keep up. He kept his hand in place as she breathed heavily.

"We think Will is in there," he went on. "We think he's after you. Can you promise me you'll stay quiet?"

She nodded, and he released her. She pulled away from him angrily. She noticed the five other men then.

"How many in the house?" Barney asked her.

"Miranda and her two daughters for sure," Emily answered. "I don't know if she remarried or not."

"Okay. Close enough. Go get him," Barney ordered. Three of them moved to the house and went inside while he and another stayed outside. Lee stood in front of Emily, not letting her out of his sight.

"You aren't safe," he told her. "Em, Will is the one who put Eric in the hospital."

Emily felt her face pale at this. Will had done it? She thought hard. It made sense. He had been acting strange. Then there was him asking Emily if Eric was still alive. Now, he had brought her here under the guise of Miranda needing help. She shivered. Then she got mad, but she kept it down. Why was it that everyone thought they could just lie to and manipulate her?

"If I'm not safe, then neither is Eric," she replied.

"We have a plan..."

"Oh really? Am I involved in this plan then? Or am I just going to get lied to again for five more years?" Emily asked sarcastically, cutting him off. She stood with her arms crossed tightly to her chest.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"What is your plan?" she asked, ignoring him.

"We are relocating somewhere safe," he answered. "Barney is going to take care of this without me."

"I'm a mission to you then," Emily clarified. "That's nice. Good to know I'm only worth being alive for when I'm something for you to do."

Lee spun and grabbed her arms then, giving her a shake.

"I had no choice," he said angrily. "Do you hear me? Kazimir was going to kill you if I was alive."

"You could have taken me with you," she said, her voice just above a whisper and strained.

"Don't think I didn't want to come for you," Lee replied, gripping her arms tightly. "It wasn't a good idea. What you didn't know is what kept you safe. You were never going to be leverage for someone else ever again, not on my watch."

Emily shrugged his hands off of her then and stepped back.

"Do what you want, but don't think for a second that you can just waltz back into my life like nothing changed," she warned. Shots were fired then, and Lee grabbed her shoulder and shoved her forward towards the van they had rented parked on the street. Emily tried to look back to see what was happening, but it was too dark.

"Get 'im!" Toll shouted. "He's runnin'!"

A blur streaked past them, but Lee and Will locked eyes briefly before he was gone.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

"She sounds pissed," Lee noted. He kept his gun out and aimed, searching for Will in the darkness, but Lee knew he'd be long gone by now.

"She is," Emily nodded. She recognized that tone very well.

...

Miranda was glaring at the man before her as he surveyed her. She had a cut just above her eye that looked fresh.

"What are you all doing here in my home?" she demanded. Never mind that Will had hit her and locked her in her own closet, taking her phone from her. She was furious that more people just invaded her territory without her permission.

"William Pearce is a wanted man," the guy (Barney) explained.

"Well, he got away," Miranda spat. She hid her terror very well, she had to admit.

"Mom?" Caroline asked, showing her head over the railing upstairs. "What's going on? Did I hear a gun?" Cassidy was standing beside her.

"It's nothing, darlings," Miranda said, waving her hand. The girls were staring at the heavily armed man standing in front of her.

"You're not safe here anymore," he told her. Until he knew why Will had included Miranda in this, he knew she wasn't safe.

"No kidding. What kind of police are you?"

"The special kind," Barney lied. "A type of tactical team."

Miranda looked like she didn't quite buy it, but she also didn't want to risk not having their help if Will was going to come back. If he said they were police, then she'd believe they were police.

"We are going to relocate you..." Barney started.

"Absolutely not. I'm not leaving my home. I'm not a coward."

"Fine, then I'm going to assign someone to stay here with..."

"No," Miranda cut him off instantly. "None of your grungy men are staying here."

"Grungy?" a second man repeated, coming into view. "I'll pretend to not be offended by that."

"It's all right, Caesar, she just hasn't spent enough time with us to appreciate when we aren't covered in dirt, blood, or sweat," Barney replied.

"Who the hell are you people?" Miranda demanded. "I want names."

"I'm Barney," Barney said. "That's Caesar."

Miranda stood with her hands on her hips, looking at them coldly.

"Aw don't make me stay with her," Caesar begged.

"I'll stay too," Barney promised. Miranda narrowed her eyes.

"I don't think so."

"Would you rather risk having that guy come back and kill you next time?" Barney challenged. Miranda shot a look up towards her girls. No, she didn't want them to die.

"I am not leaving my home," she said firmly and coldly. "I have work, and I'm not about to abandon it just because you think my life is at risk."

"We will discuss this further," Barney said, turning to Caesar and gesturing. They both walked out together. Only when they were gone did Miranda allow her hands to shake from fear.

...

Lee looked as his team came towards him.

"Caesar and I are gonna stay here with Ice Queen in case buddy comes back," Barney said. "Toll and Yang are gonna stay with Eric."

"My mother is here too," Emily said quickly.

"Okay. They'll keep an eye on her too," Barney promised. "Unless she wants to go with you."

"Where am I going?" Gunner asked.

"With Lee."

"What? No," Lee shook his head. "I'm more than capable."

"I know that, but we're working in pairs on this one," Barney said. "Emily, since you and your son are the biggest targets on Pearce's list, we're gonna move you somewhere else entirely."

"What about Eric? He's the bigger target than me," Emily argued.

"I'll stay at the hospital with him," Toll promised. "No one will get past me."

"Or me," Yang added.

"We can't transport him when he's not stable," Barney said. "Or else we would."

"Why aren't we telling the police about Will?" Emily asked. "If he's corrupt, they need to know."

"If we blow the whistle on him, he'll go into hiding," Barney explained. "If we let him think he's not caught, he'll come back out, and then we get him."

"That makes no sense to me," Emily argued. "You need to tell the police."

"They will shut down any chance of us finding Will's business partners," Barney said. "Once they hear Will is arrested, they're gone."

"You really don't have faith in the police, do you?" Emily asked.

"No, I do not," Barney shook his head. "And with good reason. Who knows if there are more cops like Will in that station. We can't risk them knowing we're onto Will."

Emily didn't necessarily agree with his logic, but she also didn't want to risk Eric getting hurt, so she decided to just go along with it.

"Where are we going?" Emily asked.

Barney gave Lee a look.

"Somewhere remote," he answered.

Emily didn't like it, but she also didn't want Eddie near any kind of danger. It seemed that Will was after her for whatever reason, and she didn't want to hang around and find out. After a moment, she nodded.

"Trench is holidaying up there too," Barney said to Lee then. "If you need backup, call him."

"All right," Lee agreed, taking the key from Barney. He knew exactly where they were going, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was Barney's way of apologizing for everything.

"Now, listen here," Miranda's voice said as she stormed out into the yard. She stopped short upon seeing Lee standing there in the light from the vehicle's headlights. Lee felt his blood boil a little upon seeing her. He remembered their last meeting vividly.

"Come on," Emily said, not wanting Lee and Miranda to get into it.

"You're dead," Miranda said, pointing at Lee.

"Clearly not," Lee replied.

"I saw you die," Miranda said, more firmly this time. Lee was already walking away with Emily, Toll, and Yang. He hated that woman with a passion. He had hoped to never see her again.

Miranda stood there feeling shocked and angry. So Lee Jones wasn't dead after all. And there he was back with Emily. It almost made her forget what had just taken place there.

...

"What are you doing?" Rosemary asked blearily as Emily came into the room and snapped the light on.

"Eddie and I have to go somewhere safe for a while," Emily answered, grabbing a suitcase and packing it quickly. Rosemary stared at her daughter.

"What?"

"There is a man trying to hurt me, and...they feel it is safer for me to relocate until this man is caught," Emily explained.

"'They?'" Rosemary asked.

Emily stopped then. Her mother would find out sooner than later. It was time to break the news.

"Mum, Lee is alive," she said.

"Oh, honey. I know his death was so hard on you, but he's gone, luv."

"No, Mum, he's not."

"Emily..."

"Hello, Mrs. Charlton," Lee's voice said. Rosemary shrieked and chucked her pillow at his head in a knee jerk type response. He ducked.

"What on Earth?" she demanded, clutching at her heart.

"It's a long story," Lee answered. Emily zipped her suitcase and grabbed another for Eddie. She quietly went into the boy's room and packed fast.

"You mean to tell me that you intentionally broke my daughter's heart all this time by pretending to be dead?" Rosemary asked, her voice dangerously low.

"I did it to save her life," Lee answered. "Trust me, that was the only reason."

Rosemary slapped him hard across the cheek, and he knew he deserved it.

"Mum!" Emily hissed, having heard it from Eddie's room. She came into the hallway then and saw Lee rubbing at his face a little while Rosemary glared at him.

"I don't believe this..." Rosemary started.

"Mum, you're at where I was about two hours ago," Emily said. "It's fine. Right now, we have to go. You're welcome to come with us."

"I'm not leaving Eric," she said quickly.

"Then my friend, Yin Yang, is going to stay with you," Lee told her.

"Yin Yang? Seriously?"

"Yea. He's the best."

"Will isn't after you anyway. He doesn't even know you're here," Emily reasoned.

"I'm going to move to a hotel then," Rosemary said. "In case he comes here looking for you."

"Good plan," Emily nodded. It was time to wake up Eddie. She wondered how he'd react to seeing Lee. Then again, he'd already seen him. She believed it now.

"And Eric?" Rosemary asked, afraid. "He's an easy target..."

"My other friend, Toll Road, will be at the hospital with him," Lee answered.

"Toll Road? Yin Yang? What's next? Tool Box?" Rosemary asked.

"He just goes by Tool," Lee told her with a small smile. Rosemary threw her hands up in the air, exasperated.

"Just go," Emily told her. Yin was standing in the hallway, waiting for her. He'd overheard that his protective duty had changed from being with Eric to being with Rosemary.

"Be safe," Rosemary said, giving her a hug and a kiss. She glared at Lee again as she passed to get dressed and leave.

Lee felt anxious, knowing his son was about to be told his father was alive and well. He had no idea what to expect. Emily bent down to kiss her son's forehead to wake him up, her hand shaking his shoulder lightly.

His eyes flew open.


	6. Chapter 6

"Mummy?" Eddie asked, sounding a little bit anxious. It was still dark outside. He didn't understand what was happening.

"We are going to go for a car ride," Emily replied, smoothing his hair with her hand. He sat up then.

"Right now? But it's dark out."

"I know. It's a...special trip," she explained. She didn't want to scare him, but she wanted him to get going.

"Where are we going?" he asked. Emily hesitated. she didn't even know herself. Then Eddie saw Lee. "Who's that?"

It was so complicated. Emily didn't even know how to begin. Lee didn't either. He felt frozen.

"Wait," Eddie said, peering at Lee and growing excited. "He's the man from the hallway and the picture. He's Daddy!"

Emily moved just in time to avoid Eddie's overexcited, flailing arms as he leaped out of bed and raced to Lee, jumping at him. Lee's fast reflexes helped him catch his son, and he felt like he was almost going to cry when Eddie wrapped his arms around his neck. This was his son. He was holding his son. He could barely breathe.

"Where were you?" Eddie asked, muffled by Lee's neck. "Mummy said you were in Heaven." Lee looked at Emily, at a loss for words.

"I...I thought he was," Emily answered. "It turns out he was just at work."

"Well, that's silly," Eddie said. Emily gave a choked laugh. Her son's bluntness was very amusing at times.

"Enjoy your trip," Rosemary said then, coming in and giving Eddie a kiss while Lee was still holding him.

"Where are you going, Grandma?"

"I'm staying here with Uncle Eric," she answered. "You be good."

"I will," Eddie promised.

"Let's get you changed," Emily said. Lee set him down and stumbled backwards out of the room. He gripped his head, feeling like he was suffocating.

"That boy deserved to have his father," Rosemary said, following him.

"I didn't know he even existed until yesterday," Lee told her, swinging to look at her. "Believe me, if I had known, I would have come back."

Rosemary studied him carefully then. She knew she was being harsh on him. She knew Edward would want her to at least understand. This was one of those times she wished he wasn't dead.

"Emily was really in danger?" she asked. "When you...did what you did?"

"Yes," Lee nodded firmly. "Mrs. Charlton, I stayed dead because I...I love Emily more than anything, and I did not want her to die because of me."

"So why come back now?"

"Because...the person threatening her life is dead," Lee answered. "I tracked him for five years and finally got him recently."

"You still work for SAS?" she asked, surprised.

"No," Lee shook his head. "Something a bit different."

Rosemary just nodded, accepting the fact that Lee hurt Emily in order to save her life. It didn't make her feel any better about it, though.

"She will be angry for a long time," she told him.

"I know."

"She'll come around, though."

"I know that too," he said softly. Rosemary reached to grip his shoulder and give it a squeeze.

"We're ready," Emily said, coming out with Eddie in tow.

"What about Shadow?" Eddie asked. Upon hearing his name, Shadow came out of Eric's room where he'd been hiding. He beelined for Lee, ramming his snout into Lee's hand.

"Hey, boy," Lee said, scratching him. "I know, I know. I missed you too."

"Can he come with us?" Eddie asked.

"I guess he has to," Lee answered, looking at Emily.

"Right," she agreed. She went to grab a leash and the dog's food bowls and bag of food. Lee took it off of her, and they went to the hallway. Rosemary bent to hug and kiss Eddie goodbye. Yang introduced himself to her when she reached the hallway, and they left together. Gunner was waiting down with their newly rented SUV. Emily walked past Lee without saying anything, but Eddie reached for Lee's hand and began to skip as they followed her. Lee thought his heart just might bust.

...

Emily didn't hardly say a word as they drove. They crossed over into Canada, and after that, she fell asleep. Eddie had fallen asleep again shortly after they left the apartment. Shadow was a bit restless in the hatch area at the start, but he settled down after a bit.

"Who knew Barney had a place up here," Gunner noted.

"It's remote enough," Lee replied. He kept looking back at Eddie and Emily, and he wondered if he'd ever be able to make things right between them.

...

William was getting tired of these guys. Who were they, and why were they after him? He dropped by his buddy's place as he felt his was being watched. He'd made sure no one had followed him. That being said, who was to say they weren't already tracking him? He had ditched his phone pretty fast after the attempted kidnapping at his place. He wasn't going to take any risks.

"Tyler?" he asked after pacing for a while.

"Yea?" his friend answered.

"You gotta help me find some guys."

"On it."

Will watched his friend hook up to the internet and start searching. He was soon going to know exactly who these men were.

...

"What are you doing?" Miranda demanded, watching Barney take over her kitchen table.

"I'm setting up," he answered.

"To do what?"

"Work."

"What kind of work?"

"How about you leave that to me?" Barney suggested, finally looking at her. She certainly put on the tough act very well, but he could tell underneath she was scared.

"You stay away from my daughters," Miranda ordered.

"That's the plan."

"And me."

"Wouldn't even dream of intentionally hanging out with you," Barney retorted. She pressed her lips together into a tight, thin line.

"I don't like men like you," she said, her voice a hiss now.

"Not a lot of people do," he shrugged. She spun on her heel, then, and stalked off.

"Damn," Caesar said, coming in. He'd overheard everything but had stayed hidden to avoid becoming her next target. "She's a tough bitch."

"I remember Lee telling me about how she treated Emily," Barney mused.

"How are we gonna do this?" Caesar asked.

"She's just a job," Barney answered. "Don't think of her as anything else."

Caesar made a face but didn't comment. He didn't know what to say to that anyway.

...

Toll found the police officer who was keeping watch over Eric asleep standing up. Toll stopped in front of him and surveyed him for a moment. How could someone fall asleep standing up?

"Ahem," he coughed loudly, making the guy jump and snap back to attention.

"What, what, w-what?" he asked, nervous.

"That's my friend in there," Toll answered, pointing, "and you're doing a really shitty job at keeping him safe, so I'm gonna be sitting in there with him to make sure he doesn't get murdered."

"You...well...that's..." the officer tried, but Toll's steely eyed glare made him falter and then sputter to a stop. "Okay."

"Good," Toll said, going into the room. He made himself comfortable as best as he could. He watched Eric's chest rise and fall with the machine, and he felt a bit nauseous. He didn't know Eric, but he didn't want Lee to lose a close friend. He'd do everything in his power to keep Eric safe.

...

"An Expendable, huh?" Rosemary commented. Yang nodded.

"Yes."

"And Lee is one too?"

"Yes."

"I see." Why hadn't someone told her? It made sense that Lee stayed in a job where he shot people. Edward had always said Lee was built for toting guns and saving lives.

"I'll be over here," Yang said, gesturing to the desk at the far side of the hotel room. Rosemary nodded.

"Okay," she agreed. She felt a little skeptical at this man's ability to protect her. He was awfully short. Then again, his movements seemed quick and accurate, just based on what she'd seen so far. She just hoped he'd be sufficient when her life was at stake.

**Hours Later**

Lee stopped the car, exhausted. He put it in park and turned off the engine. Gunner was snoring loudly beside him. He resisted smacking him in the face. The two of them didn't exactly have the best relationship, and he wished he had Toll or Caesar with him, but it was what it was. He noticed Emily was asleep too, as was Eddie. As tempted as he was to join them and finish this journey later, he knew he had to keep going. He got out of the car carefully, shutting the door quietly. He stretched and looked at the water lapping at the shore. It was almost sunrise, and the light was coming directly across the lake at him. Barney had told him where the spare boat was hidden, so he trekked into the bush to find it. While he pushed it into the water, jumped into the back, and paddled it to the dock, he kept thinking about Emily and whether or not she would forgive him. He was regretting everything now, even though he knew the decision Barney had made saved her life.

"Need help?" her voice asked, startling him out of his thoughts. She was standing at the dock as he approached it.

"Sure," he answered, tossing her the rope. She pulled him and the boat forward and tied it. He jumped out and tied the back.

"Your friend could deafen someone with all that noise," she commented.

"Yea, I know," he nodded.

"No life jackets?" she asked, noticing.

"I guess not," he frowned, looking. "Well, here's one." He pulled it out from under the one seat and handed it to her. It was too big for Eddie, but Emily knew she'd hang onto him tightly.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"On the edge of Algonquin Park," he answered. "Barney owns this place."

"Where?"

"On that island," he answered, gesturing. The sun was coming up now, so Emily had to shade her eyes to see.

"You really think Will won't find me here?" she asked, looking at him now.

"He shouldn't," Lee answered. He went back to the car then, opened Gunner's door, and grabbed his collar.

"Die!" Gunner shouted, reaching to grab Lee in response, who easily dodged and smacked Gunner in the face to properly wake him up.

"We're here," Lee said when Gunner finally came to.

"Was that necessary?" Gunner asked, rubbing his cheek.

"Probably not," Lee answered, smirking. Emily had gone around to get Eddie by this point. Lee grabbed their bags. Gunner grabbed their grocery bag. Lee had stopped at one point to get a few essentials. He was going to go into the town later for more.

"Come on, boy," Lee said, opening the hatch for Shadow to jump out. The dog ran for a bush quickly before racing to the dock and sniffing everything along the way.

"This is dinky," Gunner said when Lee joined them.

"I think you might sink it," Lee commented as Gunner stood beside him and looked down into the boat.

"Are you saying I'm fat?" Gunner asked, shooting him a look.

"Not at all," Lee replied. He hopped in the back and began fiddling with the gas tank and the motor as Gunner muttered about muscle weighing more than fat. He resisted responding. Gunner then helped Emily into the boat and handed Eddie to her, who was now wide awake.

"Where are we?" he was asking. "It's so pretty!"

"Whoa," Emily said when Gunner stepped into the boat heavily.

"Easy," Lee said to him. "Don't rock the boat, literally. You'll have us all swimming."

Gunner did not respond as he helped Shadow get in next and then sat in the middle of the seat and rested his elbows on his knees, watching Lee. In the bow of the boat, Emily hung onto Eddie tightly in her arms.

"Come on," Lee muttered to himself as he tried to start the motor. Trust Barney to have old shit that didn't work properly, just like his planes. Lee was going to have to have yet another talk with him about it one day.

"Want me to do it?" Gunner asked.

"No," Lee answered.

"I'm better at it."

"I think maybe just let him focus," Emily said to him then, knowing Lee was growing annoyed. She remembered what that looked like. Gunner grunted but stopped.

"There we go. Finally," Lee said, getting the motor to splutter and cough to life.

"The question is, will it be able to move this boat with all of us in it," Gunner noted.

"Maybe if you got out," Lee said, putting it into gear.

"Ha, ha, ha," Gunner said sarcastically.

Alas, it worked.

...

"I'm not finding anyone by that description," Tyler was saying as he searched on the computer. Will was pacing behind him. It had been hours of searching.

"You have to. They have to be in there."

"They're not."

Will was angry by this point. He smacked an empty pop can, sending it flying. Tyler's cat hissed and ran away at the noise.

"Don't take it out on my house," Tyler commented.

"We gotta find them," Will said. "They're after me for some reason, and I'm pretty sure they've got Emily."

"Emily? That chick you've been trying to get with?" Tyler asked, surprised.

"Yea. Something's not right here." He knew those men had figured out who he was, and he knew they'd tell Emily. He had to keep low for now because if they told his boss, he was in deep trouble. If the coast was clear in a week, he'd get to work. He had some loose ends to tie up now.

"Well, we'll figure it out. We always do."

"Uh huh," Will nodded absently. He was going to find out who these men were, and then he was going to destroy them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you, Guest, for your review. I'm glad you're still reading. I hope everyone is keeping safe out there.**

* * *

"Excuse me," a voice said, waking Barney from his sleep. "That is not a head rest." He unstuck his cheek from the table and looked at Miranda, who was glaring at him.

"Sorry," he replied. She said nothing else as she made coffee and poured herself a cup. Caesar was on the couch, sleeping still. Barney cracked his knuckles and stood to stretch his limbs.

"I still think this is very unnecessary," Miranda sniffed as she sat with her coffee, keeping a large distance from him. She was also trying not to think about Lee Jones not being dead. It was all so startling.

"Tell me that after Will has dissected you and ripped you to shreds," Barney said casually. He caught a flicker of something go through Miranda's eyes.

"Mom," a teenage girl said, coming in just then. "Caroline won't get up."

"Cassidy, how many times have I told you that you're not responsible for your sister?" Miranda asked.

"We have a test today. She can't miss it."

"Put a pillow over her face. That'll soon wake her up," Miranda instructed. Barney raised a brow, giving her a look. Who was this woman? Cassidy left without another word, but she did give Barney a curious look before disappearing. Barney sighed. This was going to be extremely challenging on all levels.

...

Lee did not sleep after everyone got settled. He had had an overexcited dog tripping him up constantly as he tried to unload and take things up to the cottage. Eddie had been ripping around on high energy while Emily had tried to keep him in check. Gunner had not been helpful with his comments and jabs. By the time they got inside and unpacked, Eddie was crashing again, and Gunner was practically sleep walking. Emily put Eddie down to sleep again, and she herself went back to sleep. Lee was left restless and anxious, so he went for a walk around the island. He noticed there were a few other cottages on the island, but no one seemed to be there. He wondered how often people did come. He didn't want anyone asking questions. He stopped at one place and looked across the lake, seeing smoke rising on the opposing shoreline. He had a hunch it was Trench as Barney mentioned he was in the area. Lee walked back to Barney's cottage and stood at the dock, looking up at it. More old shit. He chuckled to himself. Why was he surprised? He sat on the bench, then, and looked out at the lake. He wondered how long they'd be staying there.

...

Toll jolted awake at the noise in the room. His hand reflexively went to the pistol in the back of his pants.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asked, glaring at him.

"You first," Toll answered.

"I'm Captain John Stevens," the man answered. "Officer Smith told me you barged in here last night claiming to be a friend of Eric's."

"I am," Toll nodded. "Chuck. We go way back."

"How do I know that ain't bull shit?" Stevens demanded.

"If I was here to kill him, he'd be dead, wouldn't he?" Toll challenged. "I've been sitting here all night. I'm keeping watch since your boy out there can't seem to do it."

Stevens kept his level stare on Toll for a moment before giving a slight nod.

"All right. You're a new protective detail. Does Emily know about this?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm going to call her to confirm."

"All right."

Stevens pulled out his phone to dial. Toll held his breath.

...

Rosemary awoke to the smell of something heavenly being cooked. She scuffed out of the separate bedroom and found Yang flipping eggs.

"You can cook," she commented.

"Yes," Yang nodded. "Want some?"

"_Do_ I?" she asked emphatically. Yang frowned.

"I don't know, do you?"

"Yes, I do," she nodded. The sarcasm had gone right over his head apparently. She sat while Yang made a plate for her.

"Plan for today?" he asked.

"Sit with my son," she answered while beginning to eat. She resisted groaning as it practically melted in her mouth. Even Edward hadn't perfected his eggs like this. Her heart panged at the thought of him like it always did. She would never stop missing him.

"Okay," Yang nodded. It was easy enough.

...

"Who are you?" Caroline asked Caesar, who opened his eye to find a teenage girl standing in front of him. Then he blinked because there were two teenage girls, and they were identical.

"Maybe he's deaf," Cassidy suggested.

"I am not deaf," Caesar corrected her.

"Then who are you?"

"Call me Caesar."

"As in the dog food commercial?" Cassidy asked, snorting.

"No, no, it's the salad," Caroline corrected.

"Ohhh right," Cassidy nodded.

"Barney!" Caesar shouted then. These girls were freaking him out.

"Girls, let's go," Miranda said harshly, coming into the room then. She was dressed for work. "You have to go to school."

"Caesar, that's you," Barney called. "Protective detail."

"Aw come on," Caesar groaned.

"Keep up," Miranda said to him, glaring. Then she left with the girls behind her. Caesar struggled to his feet.

"I haven't even eaten anything," he complained.

"Should have thought about that before you decided to sleep in," Barney commented. "Hurry up, you're losing them."

Caesar ran out the door and jumped into the SUV, tearing after them before they disappeared from sight.

...

Emily groaned as her phone vibrated beside her head. She saw it was Captain Stevens.

"Hello?" she asked groggily, still half asleep.

"Em...i...ly?"

Emily sat up. The reception was terrible.

"Hello?" she said again, getting up and moving out of the bedroom.

"Em...?"

"Yes, I'm here!" she called, growing worried. Had something happened to Eric? Where was Toll? She went outside.

"Emily?"

"Hi," she said, finally getting a clear signal. She was standing on the deck with her torso leaning over the railing awkwardly, one leg raised to keep her balance.

"There's a guy here by the name of Chuck. He says he's a friend of Eric's and that you know he's here keeping guard," Stevens said.

"Yes, that's correct," Emily replied. She knew Toll was giving a fake name so as to not draw attention to himself. "Sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"It's all good. Just wanted to make sure."

"Thank you."

"Take care."

"You as well."

Emily hung up and sighed. Toll was with Eric. She felt comforted by that thought. She'd seen Toll in action. He seemed good.

"Who was that?"

"Gah!" she yelped, jolting in shock. She almost dropped her phone and did the recovery maneuver twice before getting a hold of it tightly in her hand again.

"Sorry," Lee apologized. He was standing on the ground below her and looking up at her.

"I thought you were inside sleeping," she said.

"No. Can't sleep," he answered. "I'll be going into town soon for some more things."

"Okay. I'll come with you," she said. Eddie needed certain food and things that she hadn't brought with them.

Lee just nodded, and she went back inside. She didn't know how to feel or think around him. The anger was still right at the surface, but there was that other part of her that wanted to just hold him as tight as she could and never let go. She didn't know which one was going to take over first.

...

"I can't watch them both at the same time," Caesar said into his phone. He was parked outside the twins' high school and trying to not look obvious about it.

"Keep your shirt on. I'm at the office with her," Barney replied.

"Why didn't you say you were going to be there?"  
"Because you would have dallied if I had."

Caesar grunted to himself in annoyance. He didn't move that slow.

"Everything good over there?" Barney asked.

"Yea," Caesar answered. "So far so...wait a minute..."

"What?"

Caesar watched as one of the twins slipped out of the school while looking to see if she was being watched or followed.

"We got a runner," he sighed. "I'll call you back."

He hung up and got out of the SUV, checking the road before jogging across to the other side.

"Hey!" he shouted, making Caroline whip around. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Um, skipping," she answered, gesturing. "Isn't that obvious?"

"I am one man," he said as he finally caught up to her, his breath a huff now. "I can't be with you and your sister at the same time. Get back in there."

"I'm done with school," she argued. "You can't make me."

"Watch me," Caesar said, moving to pick her up. She shrieked.

"Put me down!"

"Kids belong in school," he said, walking towards the high school. Caroline smacked at his back, but he barely felt it. He set her down at the front door and glared at her.

"No," she said defiantly.

"Inside, or I will haul your ass in there myself," he threatened.

"Do it, and I'll say you're trying to kidnap me," she countered, crossing her arms. Caesar knew that would not be good. He had a decision to make.

"See you later," Caroline said, knowing she had him stumped. She moved to pass him when he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"None of your business," she answered sharply, yanking out of his grasp. Caesar began to panic when she disappeared. He called Barney.

"What happened?" Barney asked, answering the phone.

"One of the psycho twins took off," Caesar replied.

"All right. I'll call Yang."

"Isn't he with Emily's mom?"

"She's at the hospital with Toll. Yang will find the girl. Which one is it?"

"Um, I don't know," Caesar answered.

"All right. Thanks," Barney said sarcastically, hanging up. Caesar banged his fist against his head. This was so not going well at all.

...

"You can't leave me here with him," Gunner said to Lee as Emily got ready to go. Eddie was to stay behind with Gunner and Shadow.

"Why not?"

"I know nothing about kids."

"It's not that hard," Lee assured him. He himself had yet to be alone with his own son, and he was terrified when he'd have to be. He knew there'd be lots of questions, and he didn't have any answers that were four year old approved.

"I scare people," Gunner tried.

"You're a gentle giant, and you know it," Lee smirked.

"I think you have me confused with someone else," Gunner started.

"Daddy!" Eddie cried, racing towards them in that moment. Lee was still not used to that. The boy hugged his legs tightly.

"Sleep well?" Lee asked him, bending down to his level.

"I did," Eddie nodded.

"Good."

"Are we gonna explore today?"

"Your mother and I have to go out," Lee answered. "But I'm sure Gunner will take you exploring." He gave Gunner a pointed look then.

"Can we, Gunnie?" Eddie asked. Lee almost choked, but he bit his cheeks instead to stop from laughing. Gunner looked disgruntled by this new nickname, but he didn't argue it.

"Sure," Gunner nodded.  
"Be good for Gunnie," Lee said, tossing Gunner a smirk.

"I will," Eddie promised. When Eddie wasn't looking, Gunner flashed Lee the finger, making Lee chuckle. Emily was finally ready to go then, and she hugged and kissed her son goodbye. Shadow looked anxious, and Lee knew the poor dog was a bit traumatized from his sudden disappearance before.

"Keep them safe," he instructed the black lab as he rubbed the dog's ears fondly. "I'm coming back, I promise."

"Have fun!" Emily called as they left together. Eddie waved from the window.

"Don't be long!" Gunner's response came.

"Are you sure he's okay with Eddie?" Emily asked.

"He'll be fine," Lee answered. He had found Barney's other, bigger boat (also from the stone age) in the boathouse and had gotten it going. Emily refused his hand as she climbed in. Lee knew she was still pretty mad at him. He expected that to last for a while, but he hoped eventually she would come around.

...

"Your daughter always skip school?"

Miranda jumped at Barney's voice and looked to find him standing in front of her, arms crossed.

"What are you doing in here?" she demanded. "Get out." She didn't want the questions about who the rough looking Italian man was and why he was in their office. Valerie was already getting curious about it. Miranda had dismissed him as maintenance.

"Your daughter left school. I had to get my other guy to watch her while Caesar stayed with the other twin at the school."

"Caroline has issues."

"Yang," Barney said into his comm. "It's Caroline."

"Copy that."

"You mean to say you didn't know which twin it was?" Miranda asked with a scoff. "And you say you're professionals."

"She really shouldn't be wandering around alone, especially with all of this going on," Barney said, ignoring her jab.

"I have tried to stop her. She's of her own mind," Miranda said.

"Well, we're going to be having a chat with her later."

"Fine by me. If you can make her listen, then kudos to you," Miranda shrugged. She went back to her work. "That's all."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, that's all."

"That's all what?"

"It means get out," she snapped.

"Oh, then just say so," Barney commented. He shook his head as he walked out. That woman was a huge pain in his ass.

...

Lee took in their surroundings as they walked through the grocery store. It was a small town, but he didn't mind.

"Eddie has always loved you," Emily said suddenly after a while. He looked at her, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry," he replied. It seemed to be his go to statement.

"He asked me all the time where you were and if he'd see you. He didn't understand the concept of death for a long time," Emily went on. She envied how quickly her son had forgiven Lee and wanted to spend time with him. She wished she could do the same.

"Em," Lee started.

"You hurt me," she said, stopping then and looking at him fully. She did her best to ignore the pained expression on his face. She didn't want to know that he felt bad or guilty. She just didn't, even though she knew it would make her feel better to know he had been hurt too.

"Tell me how to make this better," he urged. "I'll do it."

"I don't know how," she said quietly. She kept walking then, not wanting to draw the attention of anyone else. Lee followed behind a little ways, but he knew this conversation was not over.

...

"I remember when they told me my husband died," Rosemary said. Toll looked at her, listening. She was sitting beside Eric and holding his hand.

"I was mopping the floors," she went on. "_Mopping_ for crying out loud. They came to the door, and I just knew."

"I'm sorry," Toll said, not knowing what else to say.

"I've never loved anyone the way I loved that man," Rosemary said, a tear sliding down her cheek now. "I wish he was here. He'd make me feel better about all of this."

Toll wished he could make her feel better, but he knew he wouldn't be successful.

"Do you have a family?" she asked him suddenly, looking at him.

"No," Toll shook his head.

"By choice?"

Toll swallowed. The truth was on his lips, but he didn't speak it.

"Somewhat," he answered.

"I don't know how Lee is going to keep doing his job while having a family," Rosemary commented. "If Emily forgives him and lets him even be in her family."

"You think she won't?" Toll asked. He felt bad for Lee. He knew what had happened.

"It's hard to say. She can be so stubborn, just like her father," Rosemary sighed. "I guess only time will tell."

Toll hoped for Lee's sake that Emily would forgive him. He knew Lee would probably die if she didn't, and Toll didn't want that for his friend. Not at all.


	8. Chapter 8

**There is a potentially triggering moment near the end of this chapter.**

* * *

"Gunnie?" Eddie asked.

"Yes?"

"Where did you get that?"

The kid was pointing a the scar on Gunner's face. God help him.

"Um...it was an accident," Gunner answered.

"Oh. I don't like accidents," Eddie said seriously.

"Me either."

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

Eddie bobbed his head, and Gunner resisted laughing. The kid was just too adorable. They had explored the island together and were now sitting on the dock waiting for Emily and Lee to return. Shadow was lying in the shade, tongue lolling out.

"Mummy and Daddy are coming back, right?" Eddie asked then, his voice sounding a little afraid.

"Of course," Gunner nodded. He bloody well hoped so. He wasn't the kind of guy to look after an orphan child, even if they were as sweet and cute as Eddie. He heard the boat then, and he felt massive relief. He hadn't been abandoned after all.

"Mummy!" Eddie cried as they came into view. He was waving and hopping.

"Hello, sweetheart," Emily said when they had slowed and were coming into the boathouse. "Were you good for Gunner?"

"Yes," Eddie nodded. "He got a scar on his face in an accident."

"Oh, I see," Emily said. Gunner snorted to himself.

"Down, boy," Lee told Shadow as he tried to get out without the dog leaping all over him. Eddie was standing and watching as they unloaded. Gunner and Lee carried everything up to the cottage while Emily checked Eddie over.

"I like Gunnie," Eddie said.

"Good."

"I wanna go swimming."

"Um...all right," Emily agreed. She hoped the lake was swim worthy.

"Yippee!" Eddie hollered, racing ahead of her. Emily wished she had the boy's energy sometimes.

...

Caroline knew there was a short, Chinese man following her around. After a certain point, she got annoyed. She stopped and swiveled to face him.

"I have mace!" she shouted. "Back off!"

Yang put up his hands.

"I'm just making sure you're safe," he answered.

"I can take care of myself," she growled.

"Maybe so, but for now, I'm watching you," Yang shrugged. Caroline glared at him.

"Well, back it up a bit, will you? You're bugging me."

"All right," Yang agreed. He wasn't too fond of tailing after a teenage girl, but a job was a job.

...

"Where did you get that?" Tyler asked suspiciously as Will came back to his place with a photograph of Emily and her boyfriend. Will knew it was the kid's father. He also knew that the guy was dead, but how, then, was it that the same man had been at Miranda's place?

"I borrowed it," he answered. "Search for this guy."

"Lee Christmas?" Tyler asked, reading the back of the photo. "Really?"

"Obviously the last name is a fake," Will snapped. "Find out who he really is."

"Okay. I'm on it," Tyler agreed. He hated when Will got snappy. He hoped this would all be over soon.

...

At the end of the school day, Caesar was ready to quit. It had been the most boring day of his life, and he could never get it back. He watched Cassidy leave the school, and he saw Caroline join her before too long. He saw Yang watching at the other end, and he felt relief that the kid had gotten back in one piece. Their mother's driver picked them up shortly after.

"And we have to do this every day for how long?" Caesar asked when Barney called him.

"Until it's over."

"Great."

"You can have Devil Woman tomorrow if you want."

"Why?" Caesar asked, suspicious. Somehow he just knew it was worse than sitting at the school.

"To make you stop complaining," Barney answered. Caesar started the SUV, grumbling to himself. He'd stop complaining when there wasn't anything to complain about.

...

Emily watched Eddie swim and play with Lee, who had offered to go in with him. Emily was grateful because she wasn't up to it. She was also glad she had gotten Eddie to learn how to swim. He still had a life jacket on, though, just in case. Gunner was whittling something beside her. His knife on the wood made her cringe inside each time. She wished he'd stop, but then again, he'd given up his time to be there with them for protection.

"He was a mess, you know," Gunner said after a while. Emily turned to face him, and he looked at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The whole time he was away from you. He did nothing but work to find Kazimir. He didn't sleep well. He barely ate. The guy might as well have been a ghost."

"Did he put you up to this?" she questioned, suspicious.

"No," Gunner shook his head. "Lee's a quiet guy. I've just known him long enough to know when he's struggling, and he's struggled bad every day for the last five years since being away from you."

Emily didn't know what to say to this, but Gunner didn't push the issue. He went back to his whittling, and Emily went back to watching her son adore his father. Things were tense between them, but they were civil to each other. Every time he bumped into her or they accidentally touched somehow, she felt that familiar burn inside. She wondered how long she had before it took over and pushed her anger into second place.

**Night**

Emily got Eddie down to sleep in no time. The fresh air and all that play had made the boy exhausted. Emily stood over him and watched him sleep for a bit. She wondered what it would be like to just so easily accept a truth and move on from past pain. Then again, Eddie was too young to understand what was going on. He was just pleased to have his father back. She backed out of the room and shut the door softly behind her. Gunner was on the couch snoring loud enough to bring the roof down. There were only three bedrooms in the place, and Emily shared her room with Eddie. She did like the place. It was small, just one story with everything open concept outside the bedrooms and the bathroom. She slipped out the screen door and made her way down to the lake. It was warm out still, but she hugged herself all the same. She stopped at the beginning of the dock, looking at Lee standing at the end of it with his legs apart and arms clasped behind his back, looking out at the water. The full moon made it easy to see him.

"Gunner's gonna keep the whole damn lake awake tonight," Lee commented without turning to look at her. Emily wondered how he knew she was there. She'd been very quiet after all. She made her way slowly down the dock towards him. Gunner's snores did indeed echo on the lake.

"He really is the Gentle Giant, isn't he?" she replied, remembering how Gunner had been like around Eddie.

"Everyone usually only sees what they want to see based on what's on the outside," Lee countered. "When you take the time to get to know someone, you can be surprised by what you find out." He himself was surprised at Gunner, but he'd never bothered to spend more time with him before.

"Lee Jones being wise," Emily commented. "Did being dead help with that?"

And there it was. Lee knew it was going to come up again. He'd been waiting for it.

"The only thing being dead accomplished was keeping you safe," he replied. He finally turned to look at her then, and she was standing right behind him.

"Five years of agony, Lee," she said quietly.

"How many times do you want me to apologize for a choice that was made for me? For a choice that was made in your best interest?"

"You keep saying that, but you could have come to me right away and told me the truth," she said angrily.

"I was not going to risk your life, Em," he said back fiercely.

"If Eric hadn't gotten hurt, would you have even come back at all?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered immediately. "I already told you that was my plan. I was afraid of what I was going to find, and I figured you would have moved on, but I was still coming back."

"And if I was with someone else?" she challenged.

"I would not have interfered," he said simply.

Emily just looked at him. She knew full well he was lying. If she had been with someone else, he would have still approached her knowing full well it would cause her conflict inside. It was what she was feeling now anyway: conflict. She was incredibly furious at him for what he'd done, yet she understood why he'd done it. She wanted to hit him as hard as she could, but she also wanted to kiss him ferociously.

"What are you thinking, Em?" he asked.

"How much I'm annoyed that I love you," she answered. Of course she still loved him. She never stopped.

Lee wasn't sure what to do next or what to expect. He decided to just wait her out.

"I'm just...so..._mad_ at you," she said, moving to stand right next to him.

"I know," he nodded.

"I want to hurt you," she admitted.

"Like I said to you before, hurt me as much as you want to," he said.

"I can't bring myself to."

She choked on a sob then. All she had wanted for five years was to have him hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right. Now that he was in front of her, she still wanted it, but the anger inside was blocking it. She stepped back when Lee went to reach for her.

"No," she said strongly. Not yet. It had to be on her terms, not his.

"Okay," he nodded. She turned to leave him standing there. She didn't know what to think or feel anymore, to be honest. Her brain was on fire for the rest of the night, trying to make sense of it all while knowing what she really wanted to do and that she was most likely going to cave in and do it.

...

"You have to watch Caroline," Cassidy told Caesar. "She sneaks out at night too."

"Seriously?" Caesar asked. This girl was hella annoying.

"I'm worried about her," Cassidy admitted. "I think one of these days, she is going to go out and never come back." She teared up then.

"Does she have a boyfriend or something?" Caesar asked.

"I don't know," Cassidy answered. "Maybe. She comes home high sometimes. I know that."

"We'll keep an eye on her," Caesar promised. He just knew he was never going to get any sleep ever again because of that girl.

...

"No family, Yang?" Rosemary asked before going to bed. The man shook his head.

"Not in this business."

"Too bad. I think you'd be a good father."

"Thank you," Yang nodded. "How was your son?"

"He's still alive. They seem to think he's improving, which is good." She'd spent the whole day at the hospital with Toll. He was a nice man too. She was glad he was there to look out for Eric.

"That's good."

Rosemary was hoping Eric would have waken up by now, but he hadn't. She hoped she wasn't going to lose her son. She couldn't bear it. She thought of Emily and Eddie and wondered what they were doing in that moment. She wondered if Emily had forgiven Lee yet.

...

Barney was sitting on the back step smoking and thinking. Will had been lying low, and Barney knew it was only a matter of time before he struck out at them again. He'd talked with Toll, who assured him that Will had not been in there. Barney wondered at this. If Will knew that Eric was alive, why was he not taking the opportunity to finish the job while Eric was unconscious in a hospital? Or did he know Eric had a protective detail on him? Barney wanted to find him first. He looked at his cell phone. Lee had not been in touch aside from letting him know they'd arrived, and he had called from an untraceable burner phone. They were being extra cautious.

He looked up when he heard a noise. He watched as Caroline carefully climbed out her window and slid it shut behind her quietly. She made her way to the tree that was beside the house, and she climbed down it carefully. Barney waited a moment before announcing he was there.

"You know you can use the front door, right?" he asked. Caroline spun and glared at him. He continued to blow smoke in the air lazily.

"No one asks me questions this way," she commented. He bowed his head.

"Maybe not, but it implies you know what you're doing is wrong."

"How so?"

"If you have to sneak around to do something, doesn't that imply it's probably not the right thing you're doing?" he challenged.

"Oh yea? And what about you? You and your team sneak around and kill people. Don't think I don't know what you're all about," Caroline shot at him.

"Don't deflect," Barney said. "You know what I'm talking about. It's a big difference between what I do and what you're doing right now."

"You're not my father. You don't get to tell me what to do," Caroline said, crossing her arms.

"You're right. I don't," Barney agreed. "But I also know that somewhere inside you, you know you're just doing this to piss your mother off, but in the end, it's only yourself you're hurting."

"You don't know me," Caroline said angrily. She and Barney held each other's gaze before she turned to walk away.

"If he can't face your mother, then he's not good enough for you," Barney said. She stopped, her back still to him. He knew he'd hit the spot, that she was seeing a boy and hiding it from her mother. He understood why, but at the same time, the right guy would be willing to deal with whatever challenge was in his way if he truly cared about her. Caroline surged forward after a moment. Barney reached for his device and turned it on, seeing her red dot from her cell phone tracker go across the screen.

"So it's a boy."

"Geez Murphy!" Barney spluttered. He turned to glare at Miranda, who was standing right behind him. How had he missed her there?

"Am I right?" she challenged, never blinking.

"It would seem that way."

Miranda said nothing further, and Barney watched her face flicker through different thoughts and emotions before she turned away and went back inside. He finished his cigar and stamped it out carefully. He looked at the house and to where Caroline had disappeared in the darkness. Something in his gut told him what to do, and he stepped off the back step and made his way after Caroline.

...

Emily sat on the dock with her feet in the water well after midnight. She wasn't tired, and her brain wouldn't shut up. She kept thinking about when Eddie was born. She'd been terrified, and even though her mother and Eric had been there with her, she still felt alone. When she held her little son in her arms, all she could think about was how unfair it was that Lee would never get to meet him. She gripped the edge of the dock hard with her hands. The anger bounced around in her chest. The feeling of wanting to just forget it all was there too, but she couldn't. She couldn't forget how much hurt she'd experienced from all of this. She just hoped she would be able to get past it.

Shadow approached her at this point, and he licked her face. She reached around to pet him and bury her face into his fur. The dog had been much happier since Lee came back. Eddie was too. Why couldn't she be?

"You're lucky," she said to Shadow. "Your feelings are so uncomplicated." The dog whined at her before racing off back to the cottage. No doubt he was going to jump into bed with Lee. Emily looked back out over the water, and she decided to go for a swim.

...

Barney found Caroline before too long. She was at a house, which he assumed was the boy's house. He wondered where his parents were. He stood outside, contemplating on what he wanted to do. The less people who knew he was there protecting Caroline and her family the better, but he wasn't about to stand by if she was going to get hurt either. He walked around to the back of the house, still thinking. The sudden shouting inside made his decision for him. He ran for the door and burst inside, gun in hand. He made his way around the kitchen, looking for the source of the noise.

"Stop it!" Caroline was shouting. "Stop!" There were sounds of a slap and a scuffle then. Barney went around the corner to find Caroline pinned on the floor underneath a large boy, who was holding a needle. Barney had a bad feeling about what was inside that syringe.

"You'll like it," he was saying. "If you like cocaine, you'll like this."

"No," she argued. "Jeff, stop it."

"I'd stop if I were you," Barney said, making Jeff snap his head up to see Barney standing there, gun pointed at his face. Caroline punched Jeff in the chest hard, making him gasp as she pulled herself out from under him. She went to stand behind Barney, and he noticed she had a bloody nose and a cut on her cheek.

"Who the hell are you?" Jeff demanded.

"Your worst nightmare if you ever go near or touch this girl again," Barney warned. He saw the fear in Jeff's eyes suddenly, and he knew his message had been received.

"All right, man," Jeff said. "All right."

"Asshole," Caroline shot at him.

"Bitch," he shot back.

"That's enough," Barney said loudly, putting his arm across Caroline's upper chest just under her neck before she could run over and start pounding on Jeff again. "We're done here." He clamped his hand on her elbow and walked her out. She yanked free once they were outside.

"I had it under control," she spat at him as they walked.

"It sure looked like it," Barney said a little sarcastically.

"I did."

"And what if he had drugged you, huh? You know there are human traffickers out there, right? People like Jeff prey on confused girls and use that to their advantage to do terrible things. Trust me."

"I was fine," Caroline insisted, but inside she was feeling scared. She really didn't know what Jeff was going to stick into her. She had a feeling Barney was right, but she wasn't going to ever admit that to him.

"All right, tough girl," Barney said. "Let's just get you home in one piece."

"Don't tell Mom," Caroline said after a moment. "She doesn't need to know."

"Fine."

They walked in silence, and Barney was grateful that he had listened to his gut and had gone after her. He missed Miranda standing in the shadows, watching, as they came inside together and Caroline went up to her room.


	9. Chapter 9

Lee had his son in a canoe one morning, roughly a week after they'd arrived. Barney had let him know that things were still quiet back in New York when Lee had called from his burner the other day. Will was nowhere to be found, and Eric was left untouched in the hospital. Lee felt uneasy about this entire thing. He didn't like not knowing his opponent's next move.

"It's nice," Eddie said, breaking the silence and bringing Lee back to what he was doing. There was no sound on the lake, and no wind. The decision to go out in the canoe was a random one for Lee since it had been a very long time since he'd done it last.

"It sure is," Lee agreed. He wanted to get to know his son. He wanted to make up for missing out on the last four years. He smiled to himself as he looked at his son. The little life jacket was almost up to his ears. Lee sometimes marveled at how small humans started out as. Eddie was sitting on the floor of the canoe, his hands holding the sides carefully.

"Oh!" Eddie cried out excitedly as a loon called close by. "Where is it, Daddy?"

"Don't scare it away by shouting," Lee cautioned.

"Sorry," Eddie said, his whisper exaggerated. "Where is it?"

"Over there," Lee pointed, seeing the loon swimming along by itself. Eddie was wriggling with excitement. Lee reached with his paddle and rested it on the life jacket to still the boy before he knocked them out of the canoe.

"It's wet," Eddie giggled as water dripped down the back of his neck, making Lee chuckle too.

"Sit still," he said. "Or we'll be swimming."

Eddie stilled, but he still watched the loon before it dove out of sight. Lee knew they could swim a while underwater. He paddled onward, going around the island. He took in everything about this moment because it was one he never wanted to forget.

...

Rosemary was up early and ready to go back to the hospital. Yang hurried behind her. They arrived in time to see Officer Smith come back with a coffee.

"Morning," he said.

"Thank goodness for Chuck," Rosemary commented, making the man's face go red in embarrassment. It wasn't exactly a secret that Toll, a.k.a. Chuck, was doing a blatantly better job at watching Eric. Rosemary believed the man must be part camel to not have to eat or drink for long periods at a time.

"Finally," Toll said, groaning as he stood up when they arrived. "I'm gonna starve."

Yang handed him some form of breakfast they had stopped to order on their way over. Toll practically inhaled it. Thankfully, there was a bathroom in the hospital room or else he'd be ready to burst.

"How is he?" Rosemary asked, settling in beside Eric.

"Nurse didn't say there was any changes," Toll answered. Rosemary said nothing else as she squeezed her son's hand. Yang and Toll looked at each other, knowing how devastated she was going to be if Eric didn't make it.

...

Caesar and Barney had eaten together before anyone else was awake. Barney had filled him in briefly on what had happened with Caroline the other night so that Caesar could keep an eye out for Jeff. So far, everything was okay.

"I don't understand why you're still here," Miranda said stiffly as she arrived and made coffee for herself. She never accepted Barney's, which irked him. Did she think he drugged it or poisoned it or something?

Caesar gave Barney a look that said he'd walk out the door right now if he was allowed to, and Barney gave him a "calm down" look in return.

"Until I know you're safe, I'm not leaving," Barney answered.

"And when will that be?" Miranda asked, still not looking at him.

"Hopefully soon."

She gave him a glance then, and it felt like he'd been struck with an ice pick.

"Very well," she commented before taking her coffee and leaving.

"I got it," Caesar sighed, getting up to follow her. He and Barney traded places on alternating days. He still didn't know which he preferred, watching the twins or watching Devil Woman herself.

...

"Got him," Tyler said. Will jumped to his feet and stood behind his friend, looking at the computer. Tyler had been working like mad since Will had arrived a week ago, and he had been up all night, and he was on his sixth cup of coffee. He was ready for bed.

"Hello, Lee Jones," Will said, peering at the name and face. "Where is he now?"

"Facial rec from traffic cams last had him crossing into Canada."

"Canada?" Will repeated. What the hell was up there?

"That's what it says," Tyler shrugged. "I lose him after that."

"Well, we'll find him again," Will said firmly. "And he'll be sorry for interfering."

"So what's your plan?"

"First, I need to find out if Eric Charlton is alive and deal with that. Then, I'm going after them."

...

Gunner was out back target practising with a BB gun. He knew better than to use his actual guns. That would put the entire lake on edge, and if there was anyone else up there, he didn't want them coming and asking questions.

"Ah," he grumbled as he missed. He narrowed his eyes, trying to get focus. He really should stop drinking so much. He was still a little bit tipsy from the night before, but not tipsy enough to not have a handle on what he was doing.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked, startling him. The gun went off, and a bird squawked in protest in the tree as the pellet narrowly missed it, causing it to fly away in a huff.

"Whoops," Gunner said. He started to laugh then. He faced Emily as she stood in front of him, arms crossed. "Just target practising."

"I see," she said, wondering if that was something he should be doing in his current state.

"Relax," he told her, reading her mind. "I do this all the time."

"That makes me feel so much safer," she commented. He grinned at her and went back to aiming at his target. Then, he got an idea.

"Hey, you wanna try?" he asked.

"Oh, no," she shook her head. "No thanks."

"Might save your life one day," he insisted.

"I think if it came down to it, I'd figure it out," she countered. He just shrugged.

"If you say so."

She left him alone as he kept missing his target and swearing in response. She wandered down to the water and saw Lee returning in the canoe with Eddie.

"Mummy!" he called upon seeing her. "Guess what? We saw a loon!"

_There's a big loon in the yard up back,_ Emily thought, but she kept it to herself.

"That's exciting," she said out loud, smiling at him. She didn't meet Lee's gaze. She had been avoiding him as best as she could ever since their talk the other night. She helped Eddie out once they were stopped, and he was bouncing around chattering about everything else he'd seen and heard. Shadow was lying on the dock but had gotten up and bounced with Eddie now. Lee expertly lifted the canoe out of the water by himself and set it in the shade. Emily had forgotten how strong he was. He caught her looking at him, but she looked away quickly.

"Come on," she said to Eddie, reaching for his hand. "Let's get some breakfast into you."

"I already ate," Eddie said proudly. "Daddy and I had toast and eggs."

"Did you?" she asked, surprised.

"Yup," he nodded, pulling out of her hand. "Where's Gunnie? Gunnie!"

"Back here, champ!" Gunner called back.

"No shooting!" Emily shouted, worrying that Gunner would accidentally nick Eddie.

"He shooting with a buzz on again?" Lee asked.

"It terrifies me that it's a common occurrence for him," Emily retorted. She turned away from Lee then, going back inside and leaving Lee wondering if this was going to be their relationship from here on out. He resisted going after her and having another fight. Instead, he went to make sure that Gunner did not maim his son accidentally.

...

Will was biding his time. He was in the office doing his best to look busy while he tried accessing Detective Duke's files. He needed to know for sure if Eric was alive in order to shut that down. He'd have done it sooner if he hadn't had the Goon Squad on his heels. Nothing had happened in a week, so Will took that to mean his boss still didn't know he was a bad cop, that the Squad hadn't told him. That in itself was curious, but Will knew he was smarter than all of them. He'd be in the wind as soon as he found Eric. He just needed to know which hospital the guy was in.

"Pearce!" Captain Stevens shouted. Will flinched openly. The captain irked the hell out of him. He seemed to always know what was going on with everyone.

"Yea?" Will asked, looking up and shutting down the open windows on his computer at the same time.

"Where have you been?"

"I was ill."

"You didn't call in."

"I left a message with Betty."

"She never said you did."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," Will shrugged. "But I'm back now."

Stevens narrowed his eyes at Will, who knew the captain was suspicious of him.

"Would you happen to know anything about drugs going missing from our storage locker?"

"No?" Will countered, feigning surprise.

"If you do, you need to speak up."

"I swear I don't," Will said, holding his hands up. "Scout's honor."

Captain Stevens didn't say anything else as he surveyed Will. There was a bit of tension around them, and Will wondered if he was going to have to do something about Stevens as the man turned and walked away.

...

"I don't know what to do," Miranda was saying on the phone. She had made sure she was alone before making this call. She had needed someone to confide in about what was going on, and she didn't want Barney or Caesar overhearing. They had warned her not to tell anyone what was going on, but Miranda had to talk to someone about it. She was going mad. Who better than a close friend from back home. They weren't here, and they had no idea who any of these men were.

"Just hang in there," her friend, Joanna, said. "It won't be for long. They're keeping you safe."

"People are going to start asking questions," Miranda said. She was positive they already were humming gossip amongst themselves. Barney wasn't exactly discreet with his tattoos and his hat and his cigar hanging out of his mouth as he read the paper outside on the street. Caesar was a bit better, staying inside the SUV when he was on watch duty, but still.

"Let them. They don't know what's going on," Joanna insisted. "I'm here for you."

"Thank you," Miranda said. If anyone understood and could help her feel better, Joanna could. "And what blows me away is that Lee Jones is not dead. He's back interfering with Emily, and she still doesn't understand how dangerous he is."

"He's alive?" Joanna asked, surprised. "Wow. That must have shocked Emily."

"I don't know how he survived, but he was standing there with all of them when this happened," Miranda huffed.

"Well, hopefully Emily realizes before it's too late that she needs to get away from him," Joanna said. "She doesn't need that kind of business in her life." She agreed with Miranda on that.

"I hope she does," Miranda replied. Even though Emily hated her, she still didn't want Emily to wind up dead like her cousin had.

...

"No," Lee said as he rounded the corner and caught sight of Gunner showing Eddie how to hold the BB gun. "Absolutely not."

"What?" Gunner asked.

"He's four."

"I'm old enough," Eddie protested.

"No, sorry," Lee said, taking the gun off of Gunner and glaring at him.

"Where did your sense of fun go?" Gunner asked.

"It left a long time ago," Lee answered. "Go do something that doesn't endanger our lives."

"Come on, kid," Gunner said to Eddie, picking him up and putting him on his shoulders. "Let's go see if Shadow wants to play with us."

Lee walked to the cottage, BB gun in hand. He came inside and was almost face to face with Emily, who was going for the broom behind the door.

"Got out of hand, did it?" she asked, looking at the gun.

"A little bit. I intervened," he promised.

"Good. My son is not going to be like you," she said, her voice sharp. Lee felt the hypothetical knife go in, and he was surprised at how much it hurt. It wasn't just the insinuation about his job. It was also the way she had said "my" son.

"Don't worry," Lee said after a moment. "He won't be."

Emily hadn't meant to be so hurtful. It had just come out that way. She contemplated apologizing, but he was already moving and putting the gun away before disappearing again. She sat down at the kitchen table and put her head into her hands, feeling the tears coming again. If only she could get past it. If only she could go back in time. If only, if only, if only.


	10. Chapter 10

**A potentially triggering subject is written about in this chapter.**

* * *

Will had gotten the information he'd been looking for. Eric Charlton was indeed alive, and he knew which hospital he was in. He knew he couldn't just go in there to finish the job, that Officer Smith was on duty there although that guy was useless. Will knew it.

"So what are you gonna do?" Tyler asked. Will looked at his partner in crime.

"I'm gonna wait until I get the chance to go in there and take him out."

"You need help?"

"Yea. I'm gonna need some help."

...

Barney saw Caroline exiting the school on time. She did it the same period all the time. He couldn't understand why she just wouldn't stay in school.

"Bye," she said to him as she passed his vehicle.

"Hang on," he said, getting out. "Why is it that you can't stay in school?"

"It's boring," she shrugged.

"No, that's not it," Barney shook his head. "What's the real reason?"

Something dark went over Caroline's face quickly, but Barney caught it.

"It's just dumb, okay?"

"What class are you skipping right now?"

"None of your business."

"What class," Barney said again, more firmly this time. Caroline was wary, but for some reason she trusted him.

"Phys Ed," she answered. He held her gaze for a moment before nodding. Something nonverbal had passed between them.

"Okay."

"Can I go now?" she asked.

"By all means," he nodded. He watched her walk away, and he just knew exactly what had happened to Caroline Priestly.

...

Rosemary and Yang reached the hospital in time to find a flurry of movement around her son's bed.

"What's going on?" she asked, fearful.

"Oh, Mrs. Charlton," the doctor said, stepping towards her. "We have some good news."

"Is he awake?"

"Not yet, but he no longer needs the ventilator."

Rosemary gripped Yang's shoulder tightly, and he winced at the pain.

"Are you serious?"

"Very. This is a good sign," the doctor smiled.

"Thank you," Rosemary said. She and Yang joined Toll against the wall watching as they removed the ventilator and checked Eric over before leaving.

"I think we all needed some good news today," Toll commented, smiling at her.

"Come on, baby boy," Rosemary said, sitting beside Eric and taking his hand in hers. "Wake up. Wake up for us."

...

Emily was curled up in her chair in the shady spot of the dock, watching Gunner and Eddie trying to catch minnows with a net. Her son would squeal in excitement every time Gunner got one for him and put it in the bucket full of water on the dock. Lee was swimming laps. A part of her wanted to join in, but she stayed put. She didn't think she was ready to have fun with Lee just yet. She couldn't help but smile, though, when Lee snuck up on Eddie and startled him by spraying water at him from his mouth.

"Daddy!"

That started a water fight. Gunner got out of the way, not enjoying getting soaked. He pulled himself in the edge of the dock to watch.

"I wanna surf," Eddie said once they stopped.

"All right," Lee agreed. He pulled the styrofoam type surf board into the water and helped Eddie get on it. He pushed Eddie out to deeper water on the board.

"You don't swim?" Gunner asked, breaking into Emily's thoughts as she watched.

"I do," she answered.

"Just alone in the dark, though," he went on.

She was surprised. How did he know?

"I'm more observant than you think," Gunner said, reading her mind.

"He's having father and son time. He's had four years with just me," Emily insisted. "It's good for him."

"He should be having time with both of you," Gunner pointed out. She hated that he was right.

"Mummy!" Eddie called on cue. "Watch me!"

He got onto his feet on the board and stood shakily as Lee held it still for him.

Emily gave him the thumb's up before he shrieked and fell off. Lee was laughing, and Eddie was too when he bobbed back up. His life jacket was still working at least.

"I know it's not my place, but don't punish him forever," Gunner said after a moment. Emily looked at him as he got to his feet, poured the minnows back into the lake, and headed back for the cottage. She felt his words hit home, and she looked back out at Lee and their son horsing around. She suddenly wanted to be a part of it, which took her by surprise since she didn't think she was ready. Gunner was right, though. Eddie needed them both, not just one or the other. She wouldn't punish her son.

She stood and pulled off her sundress. She always had her swim suit on in case she wanted to jump in.

"Yay, Mummy!" Eddie shouted, seeing her come to the end of the dock. Lee had a surprised look on his face, but he did smile. Emily dove in and tickled her son's feet under the water. She could hear him squealing from underneath the water.

"That's not fair," Eddie giggled when she surfaced beside him.

"Sure it is," she argued.

"Help me up," he ordered, trying to get back on the board. She assisted, and he stood up.

"Ready?" Lee asked as a wave was coming.

"Yes!"

Lee let go, and the wave took Eddie in. He whooped as he went a bit before falling off. Emily was treading water and watching. Lee wanted to say something, anything, but he was afraid of ruining the moment, so he said nothing. He went to help Eddie bring the board back to go again. Emily looked to see Gunner watching from the deck on the cottage, and she could tell from where she was that he was smiling.

...

Barney went into the school and found the gym easily enough. He stood and watched the male gym teacher work. He didn't have to watch long enough to know why Caroline skipped this class. The man was too touchy feely for Barney's liking. He waited for class to be over before stepping into the gym. The teacher was talking to one of the girls, and Barney could tell something wasn't right.

"No!" the girl hissed.

"Listen here," the teacher started.

"When a lady says no, she means no," Barney said, making them both turn to look at him.

"Who the hell are you?" the teacher asked.

"Caroline Priestly's uncle," Barney lied smoothly. "Who are you?"

"Bob Thomas."

"Well, Bob, you and I have a problem," Barney said. The girl looked at Bob, who gestured for her to leave. She did so quickly.

"A problem with what?"

"You touching my niece."

Bob was very taken aback, but the look in his eyes proved Barney's theory was indeed correct, and it made him sick to his stomach.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about," Bob said, but the fear was in his tone now. Barney got right into the man's face.

"You're a disgusting human being. She told me what you did. She told me you threatened to harm her sister if she didn't comply. You're a lowlife, stinking pile of scum, and you're going down," Barney threatened.

"You...you have no proof."

"Her word is proof enough," Barney said. Of course, Caroline hadn't told him any of this, but judging by Bob's face, he was spot on.

"No one will believe it," Bob insisted.

"Oh yea?" Barney asked. "Watch." He turned to leave, and that's when Bob attacked him. Barney, however, had been expecting it. When Bob launched himself onto Barney's back, his arm snaking around Barney's throat, Barney threw himself forward, the momentum making Bob go flying over his head and land on his back hard. Barney yanked Bob to his feet and wrenched his one arm behind his back. Bob whimpered and protested as they walked to the principal's office.

"Please," he begged. "My job..."

"You should have thought of that before you took advantage of your position of power," Barney growled. He practically kicked open the door to the principal's office, making the secretary shriek in alarm.

"What is this? Who are you?" she demanded. Barney propelled Bob towards her and stopped just before her desk.

"Bob here has something he wants to share with you," Barney said. The principal herself came out of the office then after hearing the commotion, her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry, Stacy," the secretary said, seeing her face. "They just burst in here..."

"What is the meaning of this?" Stacy asked Barney. "Why are you manhandling one of my teachers?"

"He's crazy," Bob tried, but Barney wrenched his arm tighter, making him howl.

"Tell them, Bob," Barney said. "Now."

"What's going on, Bob?" Stacy asked.

"N-Nothing!" Bob squeaked.

"It's over, Bob," Barney said. "Just tell the truth."

"Someone had better start explaining what is going on soon or I will call the police," Stacy said angrily.

"Yes, call the police. He assaulted me!" Bob cried.

"Only after you jumped me," Barney said calmly. "Since you're not gonna talk, then I am."

The door opened then, and they all turned to see the girl Bob had been talking to in the gym.

"Alyssa?" Stacy said, surprised. "This isn't a good time."

"Yes, leave," Bob said. "Now."

Stacy gave Bob a look at this point upon hearing his tone. She then looked at Barney, and he knew she was beginning to put something together.

"Bob here is having a hard time keeping his hands to himself," Barney explained. "Right, Alyssa?" He turned to look at her because he knew that was why she had followed them there. He'd seen her watching after Bob told her to leave them alone.

"What?" Stacy asked, shocked. "Alyssa, is that true?"

"No," Bob said, outraged.

"She wasn't asking you," Barney growled, tightening his grip.

"Alyssa?" Stacy prompted. Alyssa burst into tears, nodding her head. The secretary gasped and then glared at Bob.

"She's lying," Bob tried.

"I'll bring in Caroline if I have to," Barney threatened. Bob stopped talking.

"Caroline?" Stacy asked. "Okay. That's enough. I'm phoning the police right now."

"No!" Bob shouted, trying to escape. Barney took his head and slammed it against the desk, making him fall to the floor unconscious. Everyone gaped at him.

"Sorry," Barney apologized, not sorry at all. "I was getting sick of listening to him. He'll come to in a bit."

"And who are you?" Stacy asked. "How did you find out?"

"I'm Caroline's uncle," Barney lied again. "And I figured it out from her." It wasn't a total lie. No, she hadn't come out and said it, but she didn't have to.

"I don't believe this," the secretary said, in shock.

"Alyssa, honey," Stacy said, "come sit down. Tell me everything. Are there others?"

"I don't know," Alyssa said, following Stacy into her office. Barney gave her a nod before turning to leave. He knew they had it all under control from there.

...

Eddie had crashed that afternoon for his nap, and Emily carefully shut the bedroom door behind her as she left him to sleep. Lee was still down at the dock. Gunner was heading out fishing. She thought about their afternoon together so far. Eddie had been thrilled to have both her and Lee's attention on him. Emily herself had enjoyed it too.

"Give me that," Lee said to Gunner as she came down to join them. Gunner was attempting to hide his flask.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"The booze," Lee answered impatiently. "No drinking and driving."

"It's a boat," Gunner argued.

"That you're driving," Lee countered. "Give it. Now."

Gunner gave him a look before pulling it out and handing it over. Lee took it and set it down on the table beside the chair.

"Thank you," he said.

"Spoil my fun why don't you?" Gunner muttered. He disappeared into the boathouse, and the boat was running before too long. Then he was gone.

"Does he have a problem with alcohol?" Emily asked. Lee sighed.

"He's got a problem with a lot of things," he answered. "Last year he was so into drugs and got crazy on a mission that Barney kicked him off the team. Then he betrayed us and almost got us all killed."

"How is he still on your team then?"

"Barney. He has trust still, but I'm still having a hard time with it," Lee said. "That's probably why I got the gift of Gunner on this trip, to make me trust him again."

Emily didn't know what else to say. She hoped Barney was right about Gunner, though, for all their sake.

"What was he like?" Lee asked suddenly, bringing her back to the present.

"Who?"

"Eddie. As a baby. What was he like?" Lee wanted to know. He was angry at Barney's decision because it made him miss out on his son's life.

"Oh," Emily said, surprised. "He was...complicated."

"Complicated?" Lee repeated.

"Yes," she nodded, sitting down beside him now. The sun was making her hot again in her sundress. At least Lee had put his t-shirt back on. Looking at him shirtless had been making her feel flustered.

"How so?" he prompted.

"Colic," she answered. "He cried all the time. It was exhausting. Eric did his best, but I felt like I was going out of my mind at times."

"I should have been there," Lee said, feeling guilty.

"Yes, you should have," she agreed, looking at him. She knew Gunner was right, she shouldn't keep punishing him. She cleared her throat. "I do understand, though."

"What?" he asked.

"Why you did it," she answered. "Even though I don't agree with it, and it caused unnecessary pain, I get it."

"I swear, if Barney had told me about Eddie, I would have been here instantly," Lee said.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "You wouldn't have."

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Because. You wouldn't have wanted him to get hurt either by that...guy," Emily answered. "You stayed away out of love for me, and you would have for Eddie too. I know you."

Lee didn't know what to say. He knew she was right.

"I never stopped loving you," Lee said to her then. There had been a woman, Lacy, who had tried to get him to date her, but he'd refused. His heart belonged to Emily. He dared to put his hand on top of hers, and he was happy she didn't pull away instantly. He knew she still loved him because she had said it before.

_I'm annoyed that I love you. _

He looked at her now, and she was looking back at him.

"Excuse me," she said, taking her hand out from under his and standing up. She was just too hot. She felt like she was being constricted. She had to walk away before she just caved and let him off easy.

"Em," Lee said as she hurriedly walked towards the trail. She didn't look back. He felt a stab to his heart then as he had been so sure they were getting closer to resolving her anger towards him.

...

Barney was sitting in the backyard smoking again when Caroline found him. Miranda had been absent that evening. Caesar was keeping an eye on her at her event she was attending while Barney stayed with the girls. Cassidy was upstairs doing her homework.

"How did you know?" Caroline asked him, sitting beside him on the step.

"You told me," Barney answered.

"But...I didn't."

"Your face did," Barney said, turning to look at her. She had been late coming out of the school, so he knew the principal had talked to her. The police had shown up not long after Barney returned to his vehicle.

"Oh," she said, going quiet.

"He'll be going to jail," Barney assured her.

"They want me to testify," Caroline said. The police had told her so after getting her statement. There had been six other girls, and Caroline had been so sure she'd been the only one.

"Good."

"I feel so...lost," Caroline said, starting to cry at this point. She'd done it to protect Cassidy, but it left her feeling empty and cold and wanting to numb herself every chance she got.

"You will for a bit," Barney told her. "But it will get better."

"Mom is going to freak out," Caroline said, wiping at her eyes. "If she even believes me."

"Whoa, whoa," Barney said, holding his hand up. "_If_ she believes you?"

"I'm a lost cause. I do drugs. I skip school..." Caroline started.

"Because of that asshole," Barney finished for her. "Am I right?"  
Caroline just nodded miserably.

"If she doesn't believe you, then you leave her to me," Barney said. Caroline just kept nodding until she burst into a new batch of tears. Barney was surprised when she threw her arms around him to hug him, but he hugged her back. He'd do anything to keep her safe, and if that meant taking on the devil himself, then so be it.

...

"We strike tomorrow," Will said to Tyler. "In and out."

"The cop?"

"He's an easy one to distract," Will dismissed. He packed away the syringe. It wouldn't be hard to insert it into Eric's IV. Then it was game over.

"Billy and Gus will be here soon," Tyler said. They were the ones who had pounded Eric to begin with.

"Good," Will nodded. Once Eric was dealt with, it was time to find Emily. He knew she would have figured out the truth by now. Those men would have told her. He hated to do it, but he was not one to leave loose ends lying around.


	11. Chapter 11

**Trigger warning for a scene near the end of the chapter.**

* * *

Emily had felt bad for taking off earlier, but she had needed to breathe. She had returned to find Eddie awake from his nap with Lee entertaining him by teaching him how to play Go Fish. Gunner had come back then with real fish, and Eddie's excitement was explosive. He'd made Gunner promise to take him fishing in the morning.

Now, Emily was down by herself on the dock again. It was late, and she couldn't sleep. Gunner was snoring as usual. She assumed Lee was asleep. She wrestled with herself for quite some time, trying to figure out what she wanted. If she was honest with herself, she just wanted Lee. She wanted things to be normal between them and not tense. She wanted to let go of her anger. She wanted to move on, and she felt she could be ready for that. She felt the vibration from his steps before she turned to see him.

"Can't sleep?" Lee asked, joining her. Barefoot and in a t-shirt and shorts, he sat cross legged while her feet were in the water.

"No," she answered.

"Me either." He let his shoulder touch hers, daring to hope she wouldn't move.

Emily closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of him as his shoulder rested into hers. She really had missed him so much.

"When this is over," Lee started. "What do you want me to do?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, opening her eyes and twisting to look at him.

"You're really mad at me, Em," he pointed out. "I'm guessing you don't want me around when we get back home."

"I never said that," she objected. The thought of him leaving terrified her. That spoke volumes to her.

"It feels implied," he said.

"Just because I'm mad at you doesn't mean I don't want you around," she told him.

"I see," he said, not knowing what else to say.

Emily wanted to somehow get rid of the bridge that was between them, the one she had built from her anger. She decided to try something. It was a starry night, so she pulled her feet out of the water and fell onto her back so she could look up at them. Lee wasn't sure what she was doing, so he stayed sitting.

"Remember how Dad used to say a star is like someone who's dead? Far away and out of reach but still there watching us?" she asked.

"Yea," he nodded. He realized what she was doing, so he lay down on his back to join her. She took his hand in hers, and he felt a glimmer of hope.

"I wish he could have met Eddie," Emily said sadly. She felt Lee grip her hand more tightly as a way of conveying comfort.

"He's a good kid," he said. "Because you're a good mom."

Emily gave a half choked laugh. Eric always told her that, but she'd had a hard time believing it because of her own doubts.

"Em," Lee started, but he was interrupted as Shadow arrived and eagerly started washing Lee's face with his tongue before moving to Emily's. Easy human targets were rare, and Shadow liked to take advantage of them being in such good reach.

"Aauggh, Shadow!" Emily exclaimed, twisting away and sitting up. Lee was laughing at this point.

"We haven't forgotten about you," he told the dog as he also sat up and patted the dog heartily. Shadow's tail was whipping back and forth, and it kept clipping Emily's shoulder. Then the dog wandered off, his mission complete.

"Well," Emily said, a little annoyed at the mood wrecker a.k.a. Shadow.

"I see you got a little more friendly with him," Lee noted.

"Of course. He was a great comfort to me after you..." Emily stopped herself. She cleared her throat. "He needed me as much as I needed him. It was a mutual contract."

She didn't want to go back down that road. She wanted to leave it behind and walk ahead. They were both standing near the edge of the dock, and she wasn't even sure what possessed her to do what she did next. She moved so that Lee was in front of her, and he was watching her.

"Lee," she said, getting close to him. He felt his heart rate pick up. Could it be? He'd only dreamed of kissing her for five years.

"Yea?" he replied. Then she gave an impish smile and promptly shoved him off the dock. Having not expected that, Lee fell easily and hard into the water with a yelp. He emerged, spewing and spitting water, and looked up at her.

"Seriously?" he asked. She giggled. She actually friggin giggled. He couldn't help it. He chuckled himself.

"You had that coming," she shrugged.

"Uh huh," he nodded. He looked up at her standing there. "You gonna join me?"

"Nah," she shook her head.

"I think you are," he said, moving to the dock and hauling himself out.

"What are you doing?" she asked, backing up. He was dripping everywhere and coming for her. She ran for it, and he chased her. She gave a shriek when he caught her.

"Your turn," he said, tossing her over his shoulder and heading back for the water.

"No, no, no," she was begging, but she was still laughing. She was grateful to be in a tank top and shorts instead of a sundress. Swimming in a dress was not fun.

He set her down to push her in when she grabbed his shoulders.

"Wait, wait, wait," she said. "Wait."

"What?" he asked.

"Is that Eddie?" she asked, looking. He turned, and she used the opportunity to move aside and shove him in again. However, he caught a hold of her wrist, so she went down with him. Thankfully, the water was deep enough.

At this point, Gunner had come outside to check out the commotion and shrieking. When he saw Emily and Lee horsing around, he smiled to himself and went inside and shut the main door to keep the noise down. He was glad the two of them were sorting things out finally.

"Use our son as a distraction," Lee was saying to her now. "That's low."

"Worked didn't it?" she asked. He went to shove her under, and she dodged him. He chased her around until he had her back up against the dock. The water was just to their chins. She was still giggling until he put one arm around her and the other hand to cradle the back of her head. She became serious then as he looked at her intently.

"I'm still mad at you," she said.

"I know," he answered. She let him kiss her, though, and it brought back every single other memory of him kissing her. He pulled back, still looking at her.

"You're shivering," he said.

"I'm not cold," she replied. He kissed her again, and she put her hands on his face to hold him there.

"I've missed you so much," he said after, their noses touching.

"At least you knew you were coming back," she pointed out. "I didn't have that."

"Em," he started.

"I'm not trying to fight," she interrupted. "I'm just saying the way I missed you was different."

"Okay," he said. She kissed him gently before pulling back.

"I should probably try to sleep now," she said. He nodded. He'd take any moment he could get. He wouldn't ask any more of her. He helped her out and followed suit. They held hands as they walked to the cottage. They both dried off in the bathroom, which started another round of kissing. Emily had forgotten just how much she loved his hands on her skin. Gunner's sudden, loud snoring snort from the room across from them made them jump, startled. They had to stifle their laughter afterwards.

"Good night," Lee said as they stood outside her bedroom door. Eddie was asleep on a makeshift bed inside.

"Good night," she said back, losing herself into another kiss before finally breaking apart and releasing him. He smiled as she gave him one last look before disappearing into her room. Maybe things would be all right after all.

...

Hours later, Lee was lying in bed awake with an arm thrown over his head and thinking about earlier. He kept thinking of her lying in the other room by herself, and he suddenly just wanted to be next to her. Just holding her would suffice. He'd leave if she asked him to, but he had to try. He got up and went to the door, pulling it open to find Emily standing there.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi," he murmured back. She reached for him, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her inside and closing the door behind them. Her in his arms was enough, but as he fell backwards onto his bed, he sensed there was going to be more.

A noise of protest startled them both. Shadow stuck his head out from under the covers.

"I forgot he was there," Lee laughed while Emily broke into a fit of quiet giggles. Lee moved out from under her, got a hold of Shadow's collar to drag him out from the covers, and heaved him off the bed. The dog protested a bit more and dragged his feet, but Lee was persistent, opening the door and shoving the dog out. He shut the door quickly before Shadow could bolt back in. Emily was still laughing as quietly as she could.

"Commercial break is over," Lee said, going back to her.

"You let him sleep in the sheets with you?" Emily asked, finally calming down from her giggle fest.

"Not always."

"It's okay. I did too," she admitted. They grinned at each other before her lips found his as she settled on top of him, and it was as though the last five years never even happened, like they were back in his old bedroom in England discovering each other for the first time again.

"I love you," she said into his skin afterwards. He slid his hand up to the back of her neck to hold it, pressing his face into hers.

"I love you so much," he told her.

"Please don't ever leave me again," she begged.

"I won't," he promised fiercely. "I won't."

As she fell asleep in his arms, he knew it was a promise he wasn't going to break unless someone really did kill him.

**Morning**

"Oye," Gunner said, banging the door loudly and making Lee jump, disoriented. "What are you doing? Get up."

Lee immediately noticed that Emily was not there anymore, and he wondered when she had left.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Damn near eight," Gunner answered.

"All right. I'm up," Lee retorted. Gunner shook his head as he left. Lee could hear Eddie chattering away about something. Emily responded. Gunner laughed. Lee quickly got up and dressed and went to join them. Emily didn't look at him when he came into view, but she did give his hip a squeeze as he moved past her to get to the coffee. He couldn't help but think about the night before.

"Are we gonna fish today, Gunnie?" Eddie asked hopefully.

"Yea, buddy, we sure are," Gunner answered.

"With fishing rods, right?" Emily asked, giving him a look. She wouldn't put it past him to use dynamite or something ridiculous.

"Aw take the fun out of it," Gunner commented.

"Gunner," Lee warned. The last thing he needed was Gunner shooting a damn fish over the side of the boat and getting Eddie wanting to try.

"Fine," Gunner grunted.

"Slow down," Emily said to Eddie, reaching to touch his arm. "Don't choke."

"I have to go fast or else the fish might go away," Eddie reasoned. Lee couldn't hide his smile at this. Almost everything his son said was so damn adorable.

"Plenty of fish out there," Gunner assured the boy. "We'll get 'em."

"I want a thousand pound fish!" Eddie exclaimed, making Lee choke on his coffee.

"Wow," Emily said seriously. "That's a big fish, Eddie."

"I could reel it in," Eddie nodded back somberly. "I could."

"I don't think I could even reel that in," Gunner snorted.

"Sure ya could, Popeye," Lee snickered. "Just eat some more spinach, and you'll be good to go."

"Shut it," Gunner ordered.

"I'm done. Can I go now pleeeeaaaase?" Eddie begged. Emily ruffled his hair.

"Sunscreen first."

"Awww."

Lee watched them go to the bathroom, remembering their make out session in there last night. Emily finally gave him a small smirk as she rounded the corner. She was remembering the same thing.

"You have fun last night?" Gunner asked casually.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I'm not deaf, Christmas," Gunner smirked. Lee scowled. They had been very careful to be as silent as possible.

"I didn't hear anything," Lee tried.

"Bed springs make noise, bud. Hate to break it to ya," Gunner said, still smirking. "Everything in here is from 1940..."

"Shut up," Lee growled. Eddie returned before Gunner could keep at Lee, and he was practically vibrating with excitement as Emily snapped his life jacket on.

"Do not set a bad example for my son, please," Emily said to Gunner as he stood to go out with Eddie.

"I'm a little offended by that," Gunner replied.

She gave him a look, and he bowed his head.

"All right," he agreed. "No bad examples from me today."

"Are we gonna go out in the boat?" Eddie asked.

"If I can get it started," Gunner answered. "Damn old shit..."

"Hey!" Emily called after him. "Language!"

"Crappy old farts," Gunner corrected as they went down the path.

"I don't really think that's better," Emily said weakly, but he just waved back at her.

"Farts!" Eddie cried on cue. Lee bit his cheek to stop himself from bursting out laughing.

"This was a mistake, wasn't it?" Emily asked Lee as she watched Eddie hang onto Gunner's hand and swing happily.

"Too late now," Lee replied.

Emily said nothing else as she went over to him and grabbed his face hard, kissing him. He almost fell out of his chair from the force of it but recovered quickly. He went to pull her into his lap when she stopped and shook her head.

"Right. You're mad," he nodded.

"No," she corrected. "I just don't want to do it right here."

"Oh..."

She pulled him by the hand back to his room.

...

Toll felt the hairs on his arm stand up, and that was usually his first sign that something bad was coming. He stood, pulling out his gun. He was glad it was still too early for Rosemary to be there.

"Barney?" he said into his comm quietly. "I've got company."

"Copy that. I'll send Caesar."

"Thanks."

Toll waited, holding his breath. There was a type of noise outside the door, and then a man entered. Toll aimed his gun at him.

"Whoa," the guy said. "Wrong room, man."

"Just back out slowly," Toll said. The guy looked as though he was going to comply, but then he reached for the gun in his lower back. Toll shot him easily enough. A second and third man came in, and Toll shot one but wasn't fast enough to shoot the other. They became engaged in a hand to hand combat, and Toll was realizing this guy was tougher than he looked. Toll got thrown, and he landed hard, skidding out into the hallway. He scrambled to his feet as the guy came towards him, and they locked into another struggle. When Toll hit the floor, he saw that Officer Smith was dead on the floor, his throat slashed. Toll felt rage then. Smith was young. He didn't deserve to die like that. No one did. He got back up and started to beat on the bad guy. When they got farther down the hall, Toll realized this was a distraction, that he was being led away from Eric's room. He grabbed the tray off the cart and swung it into the man's head as hard as he could. The guy went down and stayed down, and Toll rushed back to Eric's room. He found Will getting ready to insert a syringe into Eric's IV.

"Oh no you don't!" Toll roared as he grabbed Will and lifted him backwards and away from Eric. They fell to the floor. Will elbowed Toll in the face, and Toll punched him in return.

A scream outside the door made them freeze for half a second.

"CALL THE POLICE!" a nurse screeched. She appeared in the doorway and saw Toll and Will back to fighting.

Will knew he had to escape before he got caught. He managed to pull out his knife and sliced into Toll's arm, making him shout out. Will then kicked him off and ran for the door. The nurse backed away quickly as he pointed his knife at her, and he ran. Tyler was on his heels, having come to after being knocked out by a lunch tray.

"Chuck, are you all right?" the nurse, Angie, asked, rushing in. She quickly found materials to wrap his arm up in, but he'd lost quite a bit of blood already. It wasn't terminal, though. He figured he'd be getting some stitches.

"Did he get away?" Toll asked as he gritted his teeth from the pain.

"Two of them fled," she answered. "What happened?"

"They tried to kill Eric," he told her. "I got those two at least." Angie turned and finally noticed the two dead men on the floor and blanched.

"You are lucky to be alive," she commented.

"Yea, I know," Toll nodded. He didn't think the team had expected to find him in the room, which had been his advantage. He was angry that Will got away again, though. As the police showed up, he knew that they'd have to tell them about Will. Barney was gonna be pissed, but it was out of their hands now.

Then, among all the noise and commotion, a voice spoke up and made everyone stop talking and stare.

"What's going on? Where am I?"

Toll and Angie both turned to see Eric awake and looking at them all, confused.

...

"Gunnie, where are all the fish?" Eddie asked. Gunner chuckled. The kid's nickname for him was growing on him, he'd give him that.

"They're hiding," he answered. They were in the middle of the lake with their fishing poles in the water. Eddie had wanted to take the smaller, wooden boat, and Gunner himself had wanted to take it for a spin. Gunner had managed to get the boat motor started. He had almost ripped the pull cord right off the first try, actually. He was going to speak to Barney about buying some new shit when he saw him again. He knew the guy could afford it.

"Are Mummy and Daddy always going to be mad at each other?"

Gunner gave a start. The boy certainly was perceptive, wasn't he?

"Oh...I don't think so," Gunner shook his head. In fact, he was pretty sure Lee and Emily had raced for that bed again as soon as Gunner had disappeared from view.

"I got one!" Eddie cried suddenly, making Gunner look at his pole. Indeed, the rod was bent around and squealing.

"All right," Gunner said, helping Eddie hang onto the rod. "Wind in slowly."

Eddie gave it all his effort, but in the end, Gunner had to finish reeling it in.

"Wow! It's huge!" Eddie exclaimed when it came into the boat kicking and flapping everywhere.

"It's not a thousand pound fish," Gunner said. "Still wanna keep it?"

"Yes," Eddie nodded.

"All right. Don't watch," Gunner instructed. Eddie covered his eyes as Gunner whacked the fish to death. He put it in the barrel and reloaded Eddie's hook.

"This is fun," Eddie beamed. Gunner smiled back. This kid was just too much sometimes, but he had to admit he loved it.

...

Lee's eyes were closed, but he was hanging onto her hand that was resting on his chest. He didn't want her to leave again.

"Did you think about me at all?" she asked out of the blue. He opened his eyes and turned his head to stare at her.

"Are you insane?" he countered. "What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer it."

"I thought of you every second of every minute of every hour of every day," he told her. Emily had heard him say that to her before, and even though she knew it was true, she still needed to hear it.

"Me too."

"Barney said he checked in on you."

"He did. I saw him a couple times."

"Did you ever wonder why?"

"No. I just thought it was to make him feel better to see me still alive," she shrugged.

"When this is over," Lee said. "We can go wherever you want to go and do whatever you want to do. I'm leaving this life behind me."

She sat up then, looking at him.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," he answered, sitting up to join her. "I can't keep putting myself at risk anymore, not with a family."

"But...you always said you'd never quit..."

"Things change, Em," he said quietly. She looked at his raven and skull tattoo on his inner arm. He was going to give up being an Expendable for her. She was stunned.

"I...I've always wanted to live in Paris," she said almost sheepishly.

"Then that's where we'll go," he said simply. He touched her cheek with his finger. "Whatever you want to do, I'm good with."

"And what will you do?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I'll find something," he answered. "Don't worry about me."

She moved in to kiss him then, and they fell backwards together onto the pillows again. The ringing of the phone interrupted things, and Lee knew it was Barney and that he had to answer it.

"Yea?" he said.

"Lee," Barney's voice was out of breath. "Eric's awake."

"What?" Lee asked, sitting up quickly. Emily sat up too.

"What's happened?" she questioned.

"Stay where you are. Once he's released, I'll send him up there with Toll, Yang, and Rosemary."

"Okay," Lee agreed.

After he hung up, he looked at Emily's questioning, worried face. He couldn't help it. He grinned. Eric was alive.

"What?" she asked. "Tell me."

"Your brother's awake," he answered. "He's all right, Em."

Her face was one of shock briefly before she burst into tears. They were tears of relief, but she hated them all the same. Lee hugged her tightly, knowing that it had weighed on them all so heavily, the thought of Eric dying.

"I want to see him," she said after a moment.

"Barney said he's sending him up here once he's cleared from the hospital."

"Okay," she nodded. It wasn't soon enough, but at least it was a possibility. Her brother was alive. That was all that mattered.

...

"That was way too close, man," Tyler said. They were back at his place, and Will was tending to the cuts Eric's guard had given him. He had not expected someone that tough waiting for them. He was mourning the loss of Billy and Gus. They were two of his best guys.

"What do we do now?" Tyler prompted.

"I'm thinking," Will answered. He could either finish this or leave town. If he left town, he'd lose all his contacts and his side jobs. If he stayed, he could get found out and arrested or worse, killed. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, if he was honest.

"Who all knows you're dirty?" Tyler asked.

"Emily. Her friends. Eric," Will answered.

"We could take out them first and come back for Eric later," Tyler suggested.

"I think you have a good point," Will agreed. Eric wasn't going anywhere. He was in a coma. It was time to set plan B into motion.


	12. Chapter 12

**Trigger warning in place for this chapter.**

* * *

Barney found Miranda sitting at the table, her coffee untouched. She looked almost shell shocked, which Barney took to mean that Caroline had finally talked to her about what happened.

"It's very abnormal to see you looking stunned like that," he pointed out, sitting down across from her. He folded his hands on the table in front of him.

"All this time," she said quietly. "She was being hurt, and she couldn't tell me."

"Puts everything else in perspective, doesn't it?" Barney asked. Miranda finally looked at him then.

"It's not an excuse," she said shortly.

"It's how she coped," Barney countered. "Maybe if you weren't so damn uptight, she could have come to you."

"Excuse me?!"

"You terrify everyone, lady. You terrify your own daughters. How does that make you feel? Good? You like having your own daughters afraid of you? It's a sad and lonely life being hated by everybody," Barney said. "But you must really like it because you've done it this long."

"I think your services are no longer needed," Miranda said coldly. "William Pearce is not interested in me. He is interested in Emily. You both can leave now."

"You really want to take that risk?" Barney challenged.

"I think you've done enough," Miranda bit back. "Get out."

Barney knew she was serious, so he complied. He also knew she was right. Will wanted Emily. He had used Miranda as bait once, and he knew he couldn't pull that off a second time. They were okay to leave. He was packing things up when Caroline found him. Cassidy was upstairs finishing final touches with her make up.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Caesar and I are leaving," he answered.

"What? Why?"

"Our services are no longer needed," he told her.

"So in other words, you got fired," Caroline said angrily.

"I think you'll all be just fine," Barney assured her.

"I don't want you to go," Caroline said. "I feel safe around you."

"Kid, I can't stay here forever," Barney replied. "I'm sorry."

Caroline felt her eyes start to well up. She clenched her fists. She knew she shouldn't have said anything to her mother. She knew her mother would solely focus on the fact that Barney was the one who made things happen. He had "interfered."

"Here," Barney said, handing her a piece of paper with his number on it. "If you ever need me, call."

"Okay," she whispered, taking it from him. She moved in to hug him tightly. Barney was still getting used to this, but he hugged her back. He really hoped that Will was not going to come back here. He hoped they were making the right call.

...

Eric had to fend off his mother's constant affections when she came to see him. After he woke up, he was very confused as to how he got there. The doctor said it was normal to experience some amnesia due to his head trauma. He was thankful he didn't forget who his mother was, though.

"Where's Emily?" he asked Rosemary after she finally settled down. She still had a firm hold of his hand, though.

"She is with..." Rosemary trailed off. How could she tell her fragile son that Lee wasn't dead after all? She cleared her throat. "She's somewhere safe for now until this whole ordeal is over."

"What ordeal?" Eric asked. Rosemary shared a look with Toll then. Eric noticed. "And who is this guy?"

"Eric, you were brutally attacked," Rosemary explained. "That's why you were in a coma."

"I was?" Eric asked. He thought hard, but it was all blank. "I don't remember."

"The person who attacked you is possibly after your sister. It was just a precaution," Rosemary went on. "You and I will be joining her once you're free from this place."

"And I'm Toll," Toll said. "Chuck to the staff here, but really Toll."

"Are you a cop?" Eric asked, taking in his appearance.

"Let's say sort of," Toll answered.

"Oh, good, Ma," Eric said. "We have a Sort Of cop taking care of us."

"He's a mercenary," Rosemary whispered in his ear then. "His cover is that he's a cop. We think there are cops involved in this incident, and we don't trust that there are more at the station that are bad."

Eric frowned. A bad cop? That was terrible.

A man walked in then, and Eric gave a start. A piece of information hit him hard, and he suddenly felt incredibly guilty.

"How're you doing, Eric?" Barney asked, standing beside him now.

"Barney," Eric said. "What are you doing here?"

"You know Barney?" Rosemary asked.

"I was hoping you'd forget me," Barney said truthfully. "That was a really bad day at the hospital back then."

"I didn't," Eric said. "Does that mean...?" He trailed off, looking at his mother then. How could he say it with her sitting there.

"Yes, Lee is here," Barney answered. Rosemary jolted in her chair. How could he just casually spit that out?! Then she noticed Eric's face.

"Hang on," she said. "Did you know?!"

"I did," Eric replied sheepishly. "But he threatened to kill me if I told."

"I only threatened to cut out your vocal cords," Barney corrected. "I wasn't going to kill you."

"All this time you knew," Rosemary said, shocked. "Your sister is gonna murder you."

"I know," Eric winced.

"Are you cleared to leave yet?" Barney asked, switching topics.

"Not yet."

"I hope they hurry up with that. Do you remember who attacked you?" Barney asked. Eric shook his head.

"No. It's all a blur."

"Okay," Barney nodded. He didn't want to plant false memories into Eric, so he didn't mention Will to him. That was the deal they'd all made together. Eric was to remember things on his own. Detective Duke had already talked with Eric earlier about what happened. Protective custody was mentioned, and that's when Toll had spoken up saying he was taking care of it.

"Wait, Toll," Eric said, realizing. "Lee talked about you. I remember now."

"Yup, that's me," Toll agreed.

"Call me when you're ready to go," Barney said, going to leave. Eric wondered where they were going, and he hoped that Emily wouldn't hate him that much when she found out.

...

Lee noticed a change in Emily once she learned Eric was okay. She was humming to herself as she made lunch for Eddie. Gunner had returned with him from their fishing expedition and was cleaning the two fish they'd caught.

"Ah, down," Emily said to Shadow, who had hopped up on his hind legs, sniffing the counter hopefully. He whined.

"Pst," Lee said, and Shadow instantly came over to him. Lee offered him a piece of the cookie he'd been eating.

"Lee," Emily admonished.

"I gave him cookies all the time before," Lee insisted.

"And he was getting fat," she commented.

"No," Lee said to Shadow, his tone embellished. "You weren't getting fat, were you pal?" He rubbed Shadow's ears and patted the dog's back. He got a tongue lolling and a groan in response.

Emily rolled her eyes and finished the sandwich for Eddie, who was coming in the back door now super excited.

"We got two fish, Mummy!"

"I see that," Emily nodded, smiling. "Wash your hands. Lunch is ready."

"Okay," Eddie said, hurrying to the bathroom and passing Lee. "Hi, Daddy."

"Hi, buddy."

"Here we go," Gunner said, coming inside with the now cleaned fish. Emily wrinkled her nose at him.

"What do you want me to do with that?" she asked.

"Cook it?" Gunner asked hopefully.

Emily made a slight noise in response followed by a shake of her head.

"All right. I'll do it then," Gunner said. "Fish dinner on me tonight."

"Sounds good," Lee nodded. Eddie returned, and Emily got him set up with his lunch before joining Lee on the couch. He put his arm around her casually. Once Eddie had wolfed down his sandwich, he went over to sit in between them.

"Are you not mad at Daddy anymore?" he asked hopefully.

"Was I mad at him?" Emily countered. Had he noticed?

"Yes. Your face did that squishy thing it does when you're mad every time you looked at Daddy," Eddie said solemnly. Emily could feel Lee shaking with laughter, so she rammed her elbow into his ribs, making him cough.

"I'm not mad at him," Emily promised. "And hey, I have good news."

"What is it?"

"Uncle Eric is better. He'll be coming to join us soon."

"Really?!" Eddie cried. He bounced into Emily's lap, making her grunt in pain. "I can't wait!"

"Me either," she agreed, hugging Eddie back after he wrapped his arms around her neck. Eddie loved Eric, and she was so relieved Eddie wasn't going to experience losing him. She hoped Eric would get there soon.

**A Few Days Later**

Will was in Canada now, and he was looking for Lee Jones. He didn't know exactly where to find the guy, but he wasn't going to give up. Tyler was working to find access to cameras to see if Lee had shown up on any of them. They had recruited four other men to go with them. Will was determined. This was all going to end, and it was going to end now.

...

"I really get to go home?" Eric asked after the doctor cleared him.

"You sure do," the doctor responded, smiling.

"Awesome," Eric grinned. He still didn't remember what happened to him, but he was glad to get out of the hospital. The doctor left, and Toll called Barney to let him know they were free to go.

"So we're going to see Emily, right?" Rosemary asked. She had her bag with her. She'd gone to the apartment to pack some things for Eric too. Her rental car was down in the parking lot, waiting to go.

"Yes," Toll nodded. "You ride with Yang and Caesar. Eric, you're with me and Barney."

"Why separate us?" Rosemary asked.

"So they don't know which car Eric is in," Toll answered. "In case they're watching.

"All right," Rosemary said, still not really getting it. She trusted these men, though. So far, they knew what they were doing.

...

It started like any other morning. Gunner took his coffee and went to stand out on the deck, watching the water and the sun rise behind the trees. This place was growing on him, and even though Barney hadn't upgraded it ever, he knew why. It wouldn't be the same place if new things were added to it. He sipped his coffee when he heard the drone of a boat coming. That was the thing about being on an island, you could hear anyone coming a mile away. He squinted as he caught sight of a boat full of six men. He set his coffee mug down on the railing and went to open the screen door, sticking his head inside.

"We got company!" he shouted.

Lee was out back splitting wood for something to do when he heard Gunner's shout. He rushed in through the back door and stopped, looking at Gunner.

"What do you mean, company?"

"Six men in a boat. They look armed."

"What's going on?" Emily asked, coming out of her room.

"Get Eddie, and get out of here," Gunner said to her. "Go with her, Lee."

"And let you get ambushed? No," Lee shook his head.

"Figure it out fast. They're almost here."

Emily looked at Lee, and he could tell she was scared.

"There's a boat at the back of the island," Lee said to her. "One of the neighbor's. Get to it with Eddie, and go find Trench."

"I'm not leaving you," she insisted.

"I'm not letting either of you be put in danger," Lee shot back.

"Christmas," Gunner said, looking over his shoulder. The boat had slowed in front of their cottage.

"Lee," Emily started.

"DOWN!" Gunner shouted, hitting the floor on the inside, the screen door slamming into his legs as he crawled inside. Lee and Emily both dropped as well as soon as the bullets started flying.

"What's your plan now?!" Gunner yelled.

"Mummy?!" Eddie shrieked. Emily crawled into the bedroom to get him.

"You have to stay down," she told him. "You do exactly what we tell you, okay?"

"Okay," Eddie agreed tearfully. Emily held herself over her son as a shield, and she looked at Lee. He grabbed the gun that was stuck underneath the table and tossed it to Gunner.

"Keep them at bay," he ordered. "We're getting out of here."

More bullets sprayed over them then, and Emily pressed herself down onto Eddie hard. Lee made his way to her and grabbed her arm.

"Come on," he ordered. They crawled under the table and into the small kitchen. Lee opened the bottom oven drawer and pulled out the rifle he had stashed there. Eddie was looking at him wide eyed now.

"How do we know there aren't more?" Emily asked. "What if they're already on the island and have us surrounded?"

Lee knew she could be right, but his gut was saying they could make it.

"Gunner?" he called.

"I'm good! Go!" Gunner shouted. A bullet whizzed and hit him in the arm then. He shouted out of pain and rage.

"GUNNIE!" Eddie screamed, having seen it. The boy was terrified. Gunner did not want the child to be traumatized by any of this and felt bad the boy had seen him get hit. He fired back at the intruders. Glass was shattering everywhere.

"Let's go. Move, move, move," Emily said. She dragged Eddie away to the door. Lee pushed it open and scanned the yard. It was clear so far. He held the door open for Emily to crawl out. Once outside, she picked up Eddie, and they ran for it.

...

It was a long drive. Eric was tired, so he slept on and off for the trip. Toll and Barney were chatting away about stuff before Toll pulled out his book to read. Barney had the radio on quietly. He checked to make sure Caesar was still behind him, which he was. Barney hoped that once they got everyone together and safe, they could lure out Will and finish the job once and for all. The guy had been AWOL since the incident at the hospital, and Barney just knew he was preparing his next attack.

...

Gunner knew he couldn't hold them off forever. They were on the island now and advancing on him. He was running out of ammo, and he needed to get the hell out of there. He made his way to the back door and went out. He had given Lee and them enough of a head start. He'd meet them and escape to Trench. His arm was killing him, but he wasn't letting it affect him. Seeing no one in the backyard, he ran for it.

...

Lee and Emily were still running when they heard the gunshots getting closer. Obviously one or two had broken from the group to cut them off on the trail. Lee hoped Gunner was still alive and keeping them at bay.

"We can't leave without Gunnie," Eddie said. He knew his friend was in danger, and he didn't like it.

"I'll go back for Gunnie," Lee promised.

"You're gonna leave us?!" the boy cried.

"Just for a moment," Lee answered. He looked at Emily. They were now at a neighboring cottage. The boat he had been counting on wasn't there. Someone had taken it since he'd scoped the place out last.

"Shit," he said.

"What's wrong?"

"Boat's gone."

"What?!" Emily was really scared now. Lee found a spot to hide in the brush, and he gestured for her to come.

"Okay," he said. "You two stay right here. Be very quiet. And take this." He held out a handgun to Emily, who stared at it.

"You can't leave us," she said.

"I gotta help Gunner or he's dead," Lee told her.

"And what if you die? What then?" she challenged.

"Hide here," he said strongly, ignoring the question. "I'll be back."

Emily did as she was told, but she wasn't happy about it. Lee raced back towards where Gunner was. He could hear barking in the distance. Shadow. He'd forgotten about the dog, who had been roaming around sniffing the place. He came upon one of the intruders, and he killed them quickly and silently with his knife. Five more to go. He carefully walked, listening hard. A blur coming out of the bush made him get ready to swing, but he saw it was Shadow and caught himself in time. The dog was panicked, whining and pressing into Lee's legs.

"Stop," Lee ordered. "You're gonna get us both killed."

Gunner appeared then, and his arm was bleeding profusely.

"Where are they?" Lee asked.

"They split up," Gunner answered.

"Here," Lee said, ripping the sleeve of his shirt and yanking it off. He tied it tight around Gunner's wound. He also gave Gunner the extra gun he had on him.

"Thanks," Gunner nodded.

"We have to get off this island," Lee said. "But the only boat is back at our place. The other one is gone."

"Shit," Gunner groaned. "All right."

"Come on," Lee said. He grabbed Shadow by the collar and hurried back to Emily's hiding place with Gunner in tow. He was met with a gun in his face held by Emily.

"It's me," he said.

"Where are they?" she asked. Eddie was watching them carefully. Shadow went and tried to comfort the boy.

"The team split up. They're looking for us. We have to get back to our boat," Lee said.

"Okay," Emily nodded. Lee looked around carefully before stepping out with Emily behind him, holding Eddie's hand. She was also holding her gun out in front of her.

"Stop!" a voice shouted. Lee whipped around, the knife already leaving his hands. Emily clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming as it ripped into the man's throat, killing him instantly. She kept Eddie from turning around and seeing the dead man.

"Come on," Lee urged. Four men were left now. They hurried along when they heard a boat coming.

"It's Trench," Gunner said, pointing.

"You can meet him," Lee stated. "Go. I'll hold them off." Emily felt like she might die inside if Lee didn't come back. She gripped his hand, but he made her let go.

"Go," he said firmly. Gunner picked up Eddie, and Emily reluctantly followed him. Shadow ran behind them. Lee raced back towards where the intruders were. There was no way he was letting anyone touch his family.

"What is the matter?" Trench called, approaching the dock. "I heard shots."

"Take the kid," Gunner answered. "They've come for him. And Emily."

Trench did not hesitate. He took Eddie, who was crying harder. Emily stepped in with Shadow.

"Gunnie, don't go," Eddie wailed.

"I gotta, kid. I promised to keep you safe."

"Gunnie! I love you, Gunnie, don't go!"

"I love you too, kid. Go with Trench and your mother."

"Gunniiieee!"

Gunner felt something tear in his heart then, but he forced himself to turn away from the outstretched hands, and he ran back to help Lee with the intruders while Trench drove off with Eddie and Emily. Gunner made it back to the middle of the island only to find Lee facing four men with guns aimed at him.

"This ends now!" one man was shouting. He raised his gun to shoot Lee, and Gunner didn't even think. He jumped in front of Lee, taking the bullet in the chest. He fired a shot off at one of the men as he fell, killing them. Lee finished off the other two before maiming the last one. He hurried to secure that man before going back to Gunner on the ground.  
"Gunner," Lee said, crouching and looking at him. "Hey, Gunner."

"He got me," Gunner choked. He looked at his hand and saw all the blood. The shot had hit near his heart, and he knew he was done for.

"Just hang in there," Lee said, trying to get a good look at the wound. He was feeling scared. There was so much blood.

Gunner was feeling himself going into shock. He grabbed Lee's arm tightly, making Lee look at him.

"Don't...waste...it," he said, his ability to speak becoming hard now.

"Waste what?" Lee asked.

"Your...second...chance..."

"Gunner, you're gonna be fine," Lee said. Gunner shook his head slowly.

"I'm...dying..." He could feel it, his life leaving him slowly. It was more peaceful than he'd realized. His mind flashed through the strangest things, things from his childhood to his adult years and things from his time with his team. All of their faces went through his mind. Then he thought of fishing with Eddie and playing with him. He thought of how content the boy had been sleeping beside him on the chair whenever he needed a nap. He'd never felt that way before. They had been the happiest moments of his life, he knew that. The little boy telling the drug addicted, alcoholic, killing machine he loved him was enough to make Gunner realize that it all hadn't been for nothing.

"Gunner," Lee said, his voice anxious sounding now.

"Good...friend..." Gunner managed to say. "All...of...you."

"You too, Gunner, you too," Lee said, gripping Gunner's hand in his. He knew Gunner was barely there now. "Thank you for everything."

He felt himself slip away as the world got darker. Lee's voice calling his name was the last thing he heard.

...

Barney felt it hit him hard, and he almost gasped. Somehow, he knew one of his men had been mortally wounded. He just knew.

"What?" Caesar asked, noticing. They were all having breakfast at a restaurant about an hour away from their destination.

"Something's wrong," Barney answered.

"Like what?"

"I dunno, but I'm gonna find out," Barney said, dialing Lee's phone. It went straight to voicemail. Barney stared at the phone and he just knew. He knew something really bad had happened, and someone had lost their life.

...

Lee's heart clenched, and he was surprised to feel tears prick at his eyes. He and Gunner had always had a complicated relationship, but he never wanted to see the man die.

"Shit," he said, rubbing his face hard before kicking his foot and sending dirt flying. "Shit!"

He sat down beside Gunner, and held his head in his hands. Barney was going to be devastated.

"He mean something to you?" a voice asked. Lee snapped his head up, seeing the man he'd secured sitting and staring. He was covered in blood from his wounds.

"Who are you? Who sent you?" Lee demanded, ignoring the question.

"Do what you want to me. I'll never talk," the man shrugged. Lee got up then and kicked the man right in the face, sending him flying backwards.

"You'll wish that I'd just kill you when I'm finished with you," Lee growled into the man's ear before yanking him back up. A twig snapping behind him made him whip around, gun aimed.

"Relax," Trench said, holding up his hands. "It's me."

"What are you doing here?" Lee asked.

"They're safe. I came back to help you," Trench answered.

"I got them all but this one," Lee gestured. "But..." He looked down at Gunner.

Trench didn't know what to say. He clasped his hands in front of him tightly. It was never a good feeling, losing a colleague or a friend.

"Come on," he said after a while. "Your son is very worried about you."

"I can't just leave him here," Lee said, gesturing to Gunner.

"Then let's get to work," Trench advised.

...

Emily leaped to her feet when she heard a boat approach. Trench had hidden them down in his hiding place, but she had left Eddie there to keep watch. She still had Lee's gun, and she held it tightly now as she waited to see who was coming. When she saw it was Lee with Trench and one of the shooters, she put down the gun and raced outside.

"She listens well," Trench commented upon seeing her. He'd told her to stay put.

Lee didn't respond as he jumped out of the boat and hurried towards her. She threw herself into his arms, and he held onto her tightly.

"I was so scared I'd never see you again," she said.

"I know," he replied. She stepped back then, realizing that Gunner was not with them.

"Where's Gunner?" she asked, her heart sinking. The look on Lee's face said it all. "Oh no...he's not..."

"He's gone," Lee said. He and Trench had buried Gunner on the island in a remote, safe spot. They left rocks to mark the grave. Lee knew Gunner wouldn't have wanted to be buried anywhere else. Trench marched their captive past them at this point, and Emily watched briefly before turning away and feeling the tears come. Gunner had grown on her the longer they'd spent time together.

"Eddie is going to be so distraught," she said after a moment.

"I'll tell him," Lee offered.

"No, it's okay. He learned about Heaven at a young age after he kept asking about where you were. He'll understand it better coming from me," Emily insisted.

"I'll be right here," Lee promised. Trench returned from stashing their intruder in a safe place. Emily went to get Eddie, who was still shaking with fear. Shadow came up with him, hurrying over to Lee to make sure he was all right. Lee placed a hand on the dog's head absently.

"Where's Gunnie?" he asked her. "Mummy, where is he?"

Both Trench and Lee looked away at this.

"Sweetheart," Emily said, smoothing Eddie's hair off his forehead. "Gunner is in Heaven now. He's not here anymore."

The little boy's eyes welled with tears.

"No," he said. "No, he's fine."

"I'm so sorry, love," Emily said, still upset herself. "He's gone."

"You said Daddy was in Heaven, and he wasn't, so I don't believe you," Eddie insisted. Oh how that stung.

"He really is, Eddie. I'm telling the truth," Emily said. Eddie began to wail then and pounded his little fists on her arms. She pulled him into a tight hug, and he cried and cried.

"Oye," Trench said, sniffing hard and wiping at his eyes. Seeing raw grief from a child was not easy. Lee felt just as terrible. He also felt terrible that his son had to understand death at such a young age.

"D-Daddy," Eddie sobbed then. "Gunnie's gone."

"I know," Lee said. "I know." And all because Gunner had saved his life, which shouldn't have happened in the first place. He took Eddie from Emily then and held onto him tightly. Trench left them alone then, and Emily sat hugging Shadow. Lee wished he could go back in time. He'd change everything.


	13. Chapter 13

"Still not talking?" Lee asked, looking at Trench as he came inside. He was exhausted. Eddie had cried himself to sleep, and Emily was staring blankly into space. Lee knew Trench had been working over their captive, and he was hoping there'd be progress by now.

"No," Trench shook his head. Lee grew frustrated then, and he marched out to where the prisoner was kept. Trench followed.

"What does William Pearce want with my son?!" Lee demanded, glaring at the man strapped to the chair. The genuine look of confusion that flickered across the man's face made Lee suddenly realize this had nothing to do with Will at all. He stepped closer.

"What is it?" Trench asked, sensing something.

"William Pearce did not send you, did he?" Lee asked. The man looked up at him.

"I have no idea who that is," the man answered truthfully.

"So who sent you?" Lee questioned.

"The same person who sent Kazimir after your parents. That's all I'm saying," the man said firmly.

"Care to explain?" Trench asked Lee, who was feeling the room start to spin. Was his past ever going to stop trying to destroy his present? He led Trench away to explain.

"My father was an arms dealer. Apparently he stopped after he met my mother or after he had me. I don't know which, honestly. They died in a house fire, and I was outside, so I lived. I found out five years ago my father was intentionally murdered in that fire along with my mother, and a man named Kazimir Bykov was the one who had done it. He tried to kill me and Em five years ago. That's why I dropped off the radar and played dead." Lee knew Barney had explained that part at least to Trench during one of their missions in the past five years.

"So this is a personal hit against you," Trench noted.

"Looks that way," Lee agreed. "I gotta call Barney."

...

Barney saw Trench calling, and he knew it wasn't Trench.

"What happened?" he asked, answering.

"You know?"

"I always know when something bad is happening," he replied. "What happened?"

"Six men came for us. Gunner...Gunner took the bullet meant for me," Lee said. Barney felt a sucker punch to his gut then, leaving him breathless.

"He's dead?"

"Yea."

Barney didn't say anything for a moment. Losing a friend and teammate was something he was used to, but it never got any easier.

"I'm sorry," Lee said.

"It's not your fault."

"I got myself cornered. That shouldn't have happened."

"Are Emily and the boy safe?"

"Yes."

"Then it wasn't for nothing."

"It shouldn't have even happened," Lee said again. "And they weren't sent from Will. They were sent because of my father."

"What?" Barney asked.

"They were sent from the same person who sent Kazimir after my parents and after me five years ago."

"You got one of the men then?"

"Yea."

"All right. We'll be there soon," Barney said.

"We buried Gunner on the island," Lee explained. "Trench and I."

"Okay," Barney said. They hung up, and he sat there feeling all kinds of different emotions. Then he went to tell the others.

...

Emily found Lee outside sitting alone. Eddie was still napping. She felt so bad that her son was experiencing such pain. Trench was still trying to get more information from their prisoner.

"Lee," Emily said, approaching him. He turned his head slightly but didn't say anything. She sat beside him and could see that his cheeks were a bit wet.

"How's Eddie?" Lee asked. That broke his heart more than anything, seeing his son so lost and hurt.

"Still sleeping," she answered. "What happened? I thought...I thought we'd all get out of this."

"So did I," Lee said. He breathed in and out roughly. "I got cornered, and Gunner...he jumped to take the bullet meant for me."

"Oh," Emily said, feeling like she'd been sucker punched. Gunner had saved Lee's life.

"If he'd been a minute sooner, we both could have taken them out. If I just hadn't been so careless..." Lee trailed off. One could play the "what if" game forever and never change the outcome.

"I'm sorry," Emily said, taking his hand into hers. They sat there watching the water together in silence for a while.

...

Barney was silent as they drove. He kept thinking about Gunner. Sure, the guy had lost his cool last year, but Gunner was very misunderstood by most people. He would truly miss the man.

"I wanna kill the bastard who did it," Toll said angrily. The team had not taken the news well.

"Lee did that already," Barney answered.

"The guy they have?"

"He didn't do it."

Toll didn't say anything else, but he was still furious. Eric felt bad. He didn't know Gunner, but it appeared that his absence was felt hugely.

"Gunner was a good man," Barney said. "He died doing what he loved, and he saved the ones he cared about."

Neither Toll nor Eric had a response to that. They drove on in silence.

...

Will sipped his coffee slowly. He'd gotten confirmation that Lee was close by. He'd shown his badge and Lee's photo to a store clerk, who confirmed that Lee came there once a week. All he had to do was wait until Lee showed up. Tyler was in the front seat beside him. The other four were waiting in a different car.

"Would you stop?" Will asked after a moment. Tyler was vibrating in his seat hardcore.

"Sorry."

"What is with you?"

"I'm just concerned about dying is all," Tyler answered. "These guys seem good just from what I experienced at the hospital."

"We have the element of surprise," Will said. "That's what will work in our favor."

"I hope you're right," Tyler sighed. He drummed his fingers on the side of the car door. Will gave him a look before going back to watching the store.

"Come on, Jones," he murmured. "Come out and play."

...

Trench went to pick up everyone. Lee stayed behind with Emily and Eddie. The boy had woken up briefly and been desolate and almost lifeless, sitting in the chair and not saying anything before falling back to sleep. Emily was terrified he'd been traumatized. She knew she felt like she had been, so it was highly likely Eddie was.

Lee was down in Trench's gun room cleaning his guns and sharpening his knives. He kept hearing Gunner's words over and over in his mind.

_Don't waste it...your second chance._

He got madder and madder as he worked until he slammed down the gun on the workbench, shouted in angst, and leaned his hands on it, trying to breathe. He knew it was possible to die on any mission he went on. He knew that, but they had been so lucky all the time that the risk got minimized in his mind.

"Lee?"

He turned to see Emily standing on the stairs, looking down at him.

"I'm fine," he answered.

"Are you sure?" she asked, coming down to stand next to him. She'd heard the bang and the shout. Lee felt her hand on his shoulder.

"I have to be," he told her. "That's what we do. We carry on. We all knew what we signed up for when we joined Barney's team."

Emily didn't say anything, knowing that he would continue.

"It's why Eric was so mad at me when we started dating. He didn't want me to up and die and leave you wondering what the hell happened," Lee said. "I was so afraid to lose you by telling you what I did that I didn't even think about you losing me to the job in the process."

He stopped talking then, not wanting to rehash old fights. He rubbed his face with his fingers and sighed heavily.  
"Did Gunner have anyone?" Emily asked.

"No," Lee shook his head. "Not that I know of. We don't exactly talk about our lives except for mine. It seems to be an open book for everybody." That was mostly thanks to Barney, which annoyed him.

"I think Eddie is going to need some professional help after this," Emily said.

"And that really, really upsets me that I managed to screw up our son," Lee commented, looking at her.

"No," she shook her head. "Things happen. It would have been a lot worse if we had stayed in New York." She believed that. It was a fluke that these men had found them. They weren't even involved with Will. They would have come anyway.

"I'm going to have to end this," Lee said after a moment. "This thing with my father's past. Do you understand?"

Emily knew what he was saying, but it still scared her.

"Okay," she agreed. He moved to hold her in his arms, and she let him. She clung to him.

"I'm coming home when it's over," he promised. "And we can go wherever you want and do whatever you want. I'm done with this once I know my past is no longer going to threaten my future."

"I will hold you to that," Emily said. They heard noises upstairs then, and they knew the others had finally arrived.

...

Eric barely recognized his sister when he saw her come up the stairs. She looked broken almost. Lee looked no better.

"Hi," he said when they saw him.

"Oh my God," Emily cried, rushing to hug him tightly.

"Ah, not so hard," Eric winced. He was still healing from the assault. She released him then, and Eric looked at Lee. Now, Eric was fairly certain Barney didn't tell Lee that Eric knew he was alive, but he wasn't a hundred percent sure.

"Brother," Eric said. They hugged, and Lee looked like he was barely keeping it together.

"I'm sorry," Lee said. "For everything."

Nope. Lee did not know that Eric knew. Eric didn't know what to do with this. He caught Barney watching him carefully.

"Where's my grandson?" Rosemary asked, coming in then. Yang and Caesar had her bags as well as theirs and Eric's.

"Let me wake him up," Emily said. "He's had a shock."

"Gunner," Rosemary said, nodding as she followed Emily to the living room where Eddie was sleeping on the chair. She had heard from Barney.

"They were buddies," Emily said. "He's so upset." She bent to kiss Eddie's forehead, waking him up slowly.

"Mummy?" he asked.

"Look who's here," she said to him. Eddie saw Rosemary then, and he stretched his arms out to her.

"Grandma," he whimpered. Rosemary picked him up into her arms and rocked him. Emily saw Eric then, and she gestured for him to come in.

"Uncle Eric is here too," Rosemary said to Eddie. "See?"

Eddie's head swiveled, and he saw Eric standing there. He wanted to be held by him next, and Eric obliged.

"I'm hoping this helps with the loss," Emily said. She really didn't want Eddie to hurt anymore.

"We'll do everything we can," Rosemary promised. Eric didn't say anything as he held onto his nephew. He didn't want to add to the problem. Not yet.

...

Barney stood where Gunner was buried. Yang, Toll, Caesar, and Lee stood behind him. Barney didn't know what to feel.

"Here," Lee said, handing him the chain and tag Gunner wore. They all had one. Barney took it from him carefully.

"Rest in peace, friend," he said after a moment. The others murmured their responses.

"So what now?" Toll asked when Barney turned back to them. "We gonna get the bastard who did this?"

"Yang, Lee, Caesar, and I are going to track down the person responsible for this," Barney said. "You are staying here with Trench in case Will shows up."

"You sure it's a good idea? Splitting us up?" Caesar asked.

"They'll just keep sending more men after Lee if we don't," Barney answered.

"We'll keep them all safe," Toll promised Lee. Trench nodded in the background.

"Thanks," Lee nodded back.

"Come on," Barney said. "We've got a war to finish."

**A Day Later**

Emily went into town with Lee and Toll to get supplies. She left Eddie with her mother and Eric. She needed a change of scenery. She also wanted to be with Lee every second until he left, which was later that day. She had slept tightly against him all night, hanging onto him as though he'd disappear if she let go.

"All right," Toll said. "You guys go in. I'll sit here."

"We won't be long," Emily promised. She got out with Lee and scanned the street. It was a habit of hers now, to check to make sure no one was going to shoot her. Her eye caught something at that moment, and she grabbed Lee's arm.

"What?" he asked.

"That car," she answered. "Both cars. We're being watched."

Lee casually did a scan, and sure enough, two cars were parked close together, and someone in the first car was indeed staring at them. If Lee didn't know any better, he'd say it was Will.

"Get back to the car," he ordered. "I'll lead him away."

"No," she shook her head. "I'm not separating from you."

Will got out of the car with his boys in tow, and Lee had a very sick feeling in his stomach. He grabbed Emily's hand and started to run when the bullets started flying. Pedestrians started screaming and running. Lee and Emily made it to an alleyway where he handed her his extra gun.

"Go and hide," he ordered. "Now."

"But..."

"Our son is not going to lose both his parents in one day," Lee cut her off. "Go. Now."

Emily obeyed reluctantly, running down the slope and searching for a good place to hide.

Lee peeked around the corner to see Toll firing shots back and taking down one of the shooters. He joined Lee in the alleyway when he had the chance.

"Does it ever end?" Toll asked him.

"Apparently not."

They ran down the slope to get a better vantage point. Before long, the shooters were behind them. Toll had split off, running the other direction. He took two men with him, and he killed one. He got into a fist fight with the other. Lee took down one more, and suddenly one of the men panicked.

"I'm out!" he shouted. "Will, I'm not dying for this!"

"Tyler!" Will bellowed as Tyler ran back up the slope and out of sight. Lee took this opportunity to sneak up on him and grab him. Will shouted and kicked. They wrestled and fought. Toll was busy with his man or else he'd have helped. Will managed to throw Lee, who landed on the ground hard. He was a bit winded and tried to get up, but Will had his gun aimed at his head. Lee hated that this happened.

"I've got you now," Will sneered. "Where is she?"

"You'll never find her," Lee answered.

"I will. I'll kill her and her brother and that brat son of hers."

Lee's rage was building. Will had no idea what was going to hit him. He was formulating a plan when Will went to shoot him. In the end, Lee didn't have to do anything. A shot went off, and Will gasped before falling to the ground. Lee moved to take his gun away from him and looked up, expecting to see Toll.

He saw Emily.

"Em?" he asked. She was holding the gun in her hand, which was not shaking at all. Her expression was one of loathing and hatred. Toll had finally taken out his man and was hurrying over to them.

"Is he dead?" he asked, stopping next to Emily.

"I hope so," she answered. Lee looked at Will, whose expression showed he was indeed dead. He checked his pulse just to be sure.

"He's dead," Lee confirmed.

Emily lowered her gun, and she didn't know what to feel. She'd just shot and killed her first person. Will was dead. He could no longer hurt her family. Lee got up and went over to her, taking the gun from her and pulling her close. Only then did she start to cry.

"It's all right," he told her repeatedly. "It's all right."

He looked at Toll, who pressed his lips together in response. One villain down, one left to go.


	14. Chapter 14

**Trigger warning for this chapter.**

* * *

"She shot Will?" Barney asked, surprised. He and Lee were talking as they got ready to leave. Barney had narrowed the search down to England. He figured if they could get more information on Lee's father from there, they could figure out where to go next. Lee kept an eye on Emily, who was pacing and shrugging off her mother's attempts of comforting her.

"Yea. I got the feeling it wasn't her first time firing a gun," Lee replied. "No shake to her hand. Her aim was true."

"You think this is a good time to be leaving her?" Barney questioned as he loaded his pistol loudly. Lee saw Rosemary flinch.

"I have to end this," Lee insisted. "If I don't, it will come back to haunt me forever. I can't live my life like that. Not anymore."

"All right," Barney nodded. "We'll end this."

"Lee," Rosemary said, making him look at her. She pointed to Emily's receding back. He could tell she was crying again.

"I'll be back," he told Barney, who just nodded again. He followed Emily down to the water where she stood hugging herself and crying.

"Hey," he said. She turned and buried her face into his neck, and he put his arms around her tightly.

"What if you don't come back?" she asked, her voice a pained whisper. "What if I really lose you this time?"

"You'll be okay," Lee answered. "Because you were okay for the last five years. You're strong, Em. You will be okay."

"You're supposed to promise that nothing will happen to you," Emily said.

"You know I can't promise that," Lee countered. He tilted her chin up with his finger, making her look at him. "But I can promise to try really hard."

"We're free when this is over, right?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered.

"Okay."

He hugged her tightly again, and they stood there rocking back and forth as the sun started to go down.

...

Eric hated to see Eddie confused. Lee was getting ready to leave, and the boy was attached to Lee's pant leg as though it would keep him from disappearing.

"Where are you going?" he kept asking.

"Just to work," Lee answered.

"You're coming back, right? Please come back," Eddie begged. Eric felt the lump in his throat at this, and Lee picked up his son and did his best to console him.

Eric turned away to find Barney standing right behind him.

"Wise choice," Barney said.

"For what?"

"Not telling Emily the truth."

"She will hate me and never speak to me again if she finds out," Eric said. "But I also can't live with it anymore."

"Your funeral," Barney shrugged.

"I will mention your threat, just so you know," Eric noted.

"Fine with me."

Eric felt fear in his stomach then as he watched Barney walk away and pick up his bag. Yang and Caesar were standing at the door, waiting. It was time to go.

...

Emily couldn't bring herself to look at Lee when he came into the bedroom to say goodbye. He hugged her from behind, pressing his face into her neck.

"I'm scared," she confessed.

"Don't let fear tell you what to do," Lee said.

"What if more men come here?" she asked.

"Toll and Trench will be here."

"Will they give me a gun?" she questioned. She finally turned around in his arms, looking at him.

"Where did you learn to shoot?" he countered. He'd been wanting to ask.

"I went to a shooting range," she answered. "For some reason it made me feel closer to you. I discovered I had a good aim after I stopped shrieking every time I fired the gun."

They looked at each other in silence until Lee pulled out his favorite pistol. He held it out to her, and she looked at it.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because it's never failed me," he answered. She took it then, and he hoped to God she'd never have to use it.

"I'm not saying goodbye," she said. "I refuse."

"Til next time then," he replied. He touched her face softly before moving to kiss her tenderly one last time.

**Hours Later**

"Just think," Barney said as the plane went up. "Soon, this will be over, and you can get on with your life." They had driven back down to New York, where Barney's plane was parked.

"You know that includes me not being an Expendable anymore, right?" Lee asked. Barney was quiet for a moment, digesting this information.

"I guess that makes sense," he said finally.

"You guess?" Lee asked, his tone a little sarcastic.

"You're the only one of us who's a family man," Barney said. "So yea, I get it."

They didn't talk anymore as they plane moved forward. Lee was apprehensive, wondering just what he was going to find when he got there.

...

Eric approached Emily after finding her sitting on a chair at the end of the dock. Rosemary was entertaining Eddie as best as she could. Toll was on lookout, and Trench was trying to see if their prisoner would talk more. He was hoping that after a break, he'd get somewhere.

"Hey," Eric said, sitting down in the chair beside Emily.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Okay considering everything."

She nodded but didn't say anything else. Eric knew she was sick with worry over Lee.

"I remember what happened to me."

"You do?"

"Yea. Will was trying to use my bar for his business. He wanted me to just go along with it, and I said no. Then his guys jumped me."

"Oh, Eric."

"I should have told someone sooner," Eric said.

"Well, they know now," Emily advised. Lee had dealt with the local police after the incident. They had been just as angry at Will for what he'd done and tried to do.

"I could have avoided getting beaten if I had just said something," Eric insisted.

"Well, if we could go back in time, we'd change a lot of things, wouldn't we?" Emily asked.

"Yea," Eric nodded. He felt his heart pumping harder. It was time to tell her.

"I just keep thinking, 'What if he doesn't come back?'" she said after a moment.

"Don't think about it until it actually happens," Eric replied.

"Easier said than done."

He nodded because he knew it was true. He fidgeted with his fingers for a bit, debating on how to start this conversation.

"You look like you've got something on your mind," Emily commented, finally looking at him.

"There is something I have to talk to you about."

"What is it?" she asked, concerned. Eric breathed in and exhaled slowly. It was the moment of truth.

"I knew Lee wasn't dead," he said, bracing himself for impact. Emily blinked, having not heard him correctly.

"What?" she asked.

"I...I saw them taking Lee away. At the hospital. Barney threatened physical harm if I said anything to anyone, especially you. It's been killing me this whole time that I couldn't tell you," Eric said.

Emily felt like she might have a stroke. Her own brother knew?! And he didn't tell her?!

"You watched me be in agony for months. Years!" she shouted. Eric flinched.

"I know," he said quickly. "I know. I'm so sorry."

"Get away from me," she ordered.

"Em," he started.

"Leave me alone!" she shouted, clenching her fists. Eric stood immediately and quickly walked back towards Trench's cottage. Rosemary greeted him at the door.

"I think you should have just kept that to yourself," Rosemary commented. "You've probably just killed your relationship with your sister."

"I had to be honest, Mum," Eric said. "I couldn't keep that from her forever. Honesty is always better for a relationship. She'll eventually forgive me."

"I hope you're right," Rosemary said, watching Emily bury her face into her hands and cry as Eric went inside.

...

Hours later, they landed in England. Lee didn't know where to start looking aside from the graveyard. He stood in front of his parents' headstones while Barney, Yang, and Caesar hung back.

"No leads and no clues," Lee muttered to them. "How the hell am I going to find this person?"

The wind shifted, and something caught his eye. He bent down to pick up the plastic bag that contained a piece of paper. He stood up slowly, opening it carefully.

"What is it?" Barney asked, noticing.

**You can find me where it all began. J.**

"Lee?" Barney prompted.

"He knew I was coming," Lee said, turning and showing Barney the paper.

"Where it all began?" Barney asked, reading it.

"My house," Lee answered.

"Let's go then."

"No. I'm going alone," Lee interrupted.

"What? No," Barney shook his head. "That's exactly what he wants."

"It's my history, my life. I'm ending this," Lee insisted. Barney knew better than to push because he knew Lee would make good on his word and stab him.

"Okay," he said.

"What?" Caesar exclaimed. "Not okay!"

"We'll be close by if you need us," Barney went on, ignoring Caesar.

"Fine," Lee agreed. They set off to his old house, which was now rebuilt. He wondered if the tree house was still standing.

...

"Well?" Toll asked Trench, who had come in from outside. He kept the prisoner in a shed.

"Tough nut," Trench answered. "Still won't talk."

"What happens when Lee kills off his boss?"

"Not sure. Barney will tell me what to do."

"I don't want him to keep breathing. He helped get Gunner killed," Toll growled.

"His wounds might take him out yet," Trench said. Lee had hurt the man pretty good. All Trench had to do was remove the bandages.

"I might shoot him first," Toll said.

"I won't tell."

Toll didn't say anything else. He wanted this all to be over just as badly as everyone else did.

...

Lee walked towards the figure standing in the backyard of his old house, their back to him. He had a sudden flash of memories from the night his parents died. He worked to keep them down, but his childhood self's screams echoed in his mind regardless.

He felt himself grow surprised the closer he got to the person. They turned around.

"Lee Jones. We meet at last," she smiled.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded. He was taken aback. He had been expecting a man, not a woman.

"Joanna," she answered. "That's all you need to know."

Lee pulled out his gun in response, and she smiled wider.

"Put that away. We're just having a talk."

"About what? You had my parents killed. You've been trying to kill me. Why?" Lee asked.

"It's a long story," Joanna sighed. Lee looked at the house and back at her.

"Where are the owners?"

"On vacation."

"By choice?"

"Of course. I'm not that cruel."

"Seems to me like you are," Lee argued.

"Because I killed an arms dealer?" Joanna asked. "Isn't that what you do?"

"You went after someone I cared about a lot, and she had nothing to do with this."

"Kazimir got out of control. He wasn't supposed to touch her. He was only supposed to kill you. That's on him, not me."

"And why kill me?" Lee challenged. "What did I do?"

"You're the reason your father left me," Joanna said softly. Lee digested this news, feeling confused.

"What?" he asked.

"Your father and I had a good thing going together until your mother came along. She took him away from me, but I almost had him back when the news of you made him decide to leave me forever. Apparently a child was more important than what we had," Joanna said bitterly.

"So this is revenge for you," Lee noted.

"Him leaving the business also made me lose money. It was more than just personal."

"I had nothing to do with any of this."

"I know you understand revenge, right? So you understand why I must finish this," Joanna said.

"You don't have to."

"It's either you or that beautiful family of yours," Joanna told him. "Your choice."

"What happened to them being innocent of all this?" Lee asked, incredulous.

"I didn't say I wouldn't use them as leverage now," Joanna shrugged. "Your choice, Jones. Them or you. Think carefully. I know where they are. My team is on stand by. If they don't hear from me soon, they'll know to kill them all."

"Who was he to you?" Lee asked. "Kazimir?" He had a feeling there was something.

"My husband," Joanna answered. "We got married after your father died."

"Why did he call you a ghost?" Lee asked, remembering Kazimir's words before Lee had killed him.

"Because not many people think of a woman when they think of a criminal mastermind in the arms dealing world," Joanna replied. "I'm invisible. Ghost-like. You get it."

"So not only do you want to kill me because I took away my father, but also because I killed Kazimir," Lee said, confirming.

"That's right," Joanna nodded. "Thanks to my friend, Miranda Priestly, I knew where to find you back in 2006. Then you disappeared. Then you showed up again. It wasn't hard to track you from New York to that cabin after that."

Lee couldn't help but give a small laugh upon hearing Miranda Priestly's name. Of course that woman was the one who gave him away five years ago and then shared he was still alive today. Of course she was connected somehow.

"Miranda doesn't know I was with Michael. She doesn't know I had them killed. She's very doe eyed at times I find," Joanna went on. "But she was super helpful in telling me where they were living. Your mother was her cousin, you see. When she told me that Laurie told her Michael had dabbled in arms dealing again, I knew I couldn't have him outdo me for business. That was my second reason for killing him. You already know the first."

"I don't know what to say," Lee said truthfully. Miranda was related to him?! That one stung.

"The time for talking is up anyway," she shrugged again. She pulled out her gun and aimed it at him. "The choice is yours, Jones, but make sure you can live with it."

Lee stared at the gun aimed at him feeling both annoyed and angry that he was yet again in this position. He thought of Emily and Eddie, and he knew he couldn't let anything happen to them.

"Tick tock, Jones," Joanna said. He met her eyes, and he saw the hatred there. This had to end with him.

"Me," he said. Then he braced himself.

...

Trench and Toll found Joanna's team and took them out. Barney had called to tell them after overhearing Joanna on Lee's comms mention them. Because the team didn't think they'd be found out, taking them down was very easy.

Now, they were waiting for Barney to tell them it was over, but nothing had come yet.

"Don't worry," Trench said. "He'll be fine."

Toll sure as hell hoped so.

...

After hearing the words "You're good" in his ear, Lee ducked Joanna's bullet and threw his knife into her chest, catching her off guard and making her cry out. She hit the ground, choking. Lee went over to her and knelt beside her. He took his knife back.

"You should have never messed with me or my family," Lee said to her. "And you're right. I do know what revenge is all about."

He stood then, and Joanna gasped out her final breath as he walked away. He met Barney, Yang, and Caesar on the side of the road in front of the house.

"You cut it a little too close for comfort," Lee commented.

"You can blame Trench. He was slow," Barney said.

"Are we good? Is this over?" Yang asked.

"It seems that way," Lee nodded.

"Can we go home now?" Caesar questioned.

"Yea," Lee grinned. "We can go home now."

He fist bumped Barney, and they all started walking towards their rental car to head to the airstrip.


	15. Chapter 15

Emily kept watching Toll, knowing that he was waiting for the phone call from Barney. She felt as though she might explode from waiting. Rosemary was playing cards with Eddie, and Eric was hiding and avoiding her. Shadow was with him. The dog had hidden underneath her bed ever since the gunfight on the island until Eric came, and she didn't blame him one bit.

"Are you going to talk to your brother? Or are you going to be mad at him forever too?" Rosemary asked, cutting into her thoughts.

"I haven't decided," Emily answered.

"You know everyone did what they did to keep you safe, right?" Rosemary pointed out. "That was the only reason."

"Whose side are you on?" Emily asked.

"Everyone's," she answered.

"Life is too short," Trench said, having been listening. "Have you not witnessed that enough?"

Emily opened and closed her mouth. He was right. She had.

"Excuse me," she said, getting up and going to find her brother. She found him in the backyard throwing a stick for Shadow, who then proceeded to taunt Eric with it, making him chase the dog around until he got it back.

"You clearly don't know the game Fetch very well," Emily said, making him look at her.

"I know. It's more like Throw and Fight to Get it Back," Eric nodded. Shadow wagged his tail happily, glad that Eric understood the game finally.

"Look," Emily started.

"I should have told you," Eric interrupted. "I beat myself up about it every single day, and every day I kept seeing Barney's face and remembered the threat he made of cutting out my vocal cords. I just...I shouldn't have been so afraid of him."

"You didn't tell me because in your heart you knew you were keeping me safe," Emily said when Eric was finished. "I understand."

"You do?" he asked.

"Yes. I almost lost you, Eric, and life is too damn short to have stupid fights about things that were done out of regard for safety. It's in the past, okay? Let's just move on ahead," Emily said. Eric looked immensely relieved, and he hugged his sister tightly.

"He's coming home," Eric said to her as they hugged. "I know he is."

"I really, really hope you're right," Emily sighed.

Toll came bursting out then, and he was grinning widely.

"What?" Emily asked.

"It's over. They're coming home," Toll answered.

"All of them?"

"All of them," Toll replied, nodding. Emily almost burst into tears again. She and Eric hugged once more out of joy, laughing.

It was finally over.

**The Next Day**

Lee barely waited for the boat to stop before he was on the dock and hurrying to where Emily was waiting for him. He grabbed her into a bone crushing hug, and she cried with relief while laughing.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you so much," he replied. "It's done. We're free."

"Daddy!" Eddie called. Lee released Emily and bent to catch Eddie as the boy hurled himself at his father.

"I'm back," he said. "I'm never leaving again."

Barney smiled as he watched his friend interact with his family. He had given the rundown to Toll and Trench, who had buried their prisoner earlier. The man had succumbed to his wounds, but neither Trench nor Toll were upset about it. He'd helped to kill Gunner.

"What's for dinner?" Caesar asked.

"Aren't you cooking?" Barney countered.

"I've got it," Trench said. "I'll be back."

Caesar and Trench left together. Yang went off to shower. Toll and Barney looked over at Lee, who was now talking to Rosemary and Eric while holding Eddie in his arms.

"We're gonna lose him," Toll noted.

"I'd rather he live his life than spend forever making himself expendable," Barney replied. "He deserves it after everything he's been through."

"I agree," Toll nodded. It was good to see their friend happy again.

**Two Weeks Later**

"I'm really going to miss you," Eric said as Emily packed.

"It's only for a little while," she promised. "I've just always wanted to go."

"I know, I know."

"Come with us," Lee suggested.

"I have to fix up the bar and get it running again," Eric replied. "But thanks."

"Leave it, and I'll help you when we come back," Lee offered.

"Toll's gonna help actually," Eric said. "He's handy apparently."

"Eric made a new friend," Emily teased.

"He protected me and knows a lot about different things. Am I not allowed to have a friend?" Eric asked.

"Of course you are. You always were such a loner without Lee around. It's good for you to have a new friend," Emily smiled.

"He's my new wingman to pick up chicks since you're taken," Eric said to Lee.

"Now that I would pay to see," Lee smirked.

"Okay," Emily said. "That's the last bag."

She added it to the pile. Eddie was napping for the moment. Emily would wake him when they were ready to go.

"Okay, pal," Lee said to Shadow as he bent to pet him. "I'm leaving again, but it's just for a little while. I'll be back."

"I think he knows," Eric nodded. The two friends stood there looking at each other while Emily went to wake up Eddie.

"You knew I was still alive," Lee noted. Barney had confessed that to him on the flight home from England.

"I did, but Barney threatened me..."

"I know, he told me," Lee cut him off. "I'm just grateful you kept her safe, Eric."

"She's my sister. I'd do anything for her."

"As would I," Lee nodded.

"Are we going on an airplane?" Eddie asked, excited, as they walked into the room.

"Yes, we are," Emily answered.

"Yay!"

"Have fun in Paris, sis," Eric said, hugging her. "Mum said to visit sometime since you're closer." Rosemary had gone home at this point now that things were settled and Eric was all right.

"I guess," Emily joked. Lee started taking suitcases down to the car. Eric was letting them borrow his.

"I'm glad to see you happy again," Eric said. "I'm sorry it took this long to get here."

"At least we're here now," Emily replied. Eddie rushed to assist Lee when he returned, and she could hear the two of them chattering in the hallway.

"I love you," Eric said.

"I love you too," she said back.

When they were all loaded up, more hugs were given, and Eric stood and watched them drive away towards their new life.

...

Barney answered his phone, knowing who it was going to be.

"Barney?" Caroline said.

"Yea?"

"You said to call if I needed to talk."

"I did. What's up?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm not skipping school anymore. I'm seeing a therapist, and the other girls that came forward are getting help too. It means a lot that you did this for me, for all of us."

"I'm glad things are getting better," Barney said. He was watching Yang and Caesar have some kind of chicken wing cook off. It was amusing. Tool was egging them on, and Toll was somewhere packing to go stay with Eric in New York.

"Will I ever see you again?" Caroline asked.

"Hard to say, kiddo, but I'm always here to talk."

"I guess I'll have to take that for now," Caroline sighed.

"Your sister good? Your mom?"

"They're fine. Mom is her usual self. I can't wait for college."

"She'll come around."

"Her best friend died, so she has been upset about that. The worst part is no one even knows what happened to Joanna. She was found stabbed in some random person's yard."

"That's too bad," Barney said.

"I gotta go. Mom is giving me dagger eyes," Caroline said.

"Take care, Caroline," Barney said. "And call whenever, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Barney. Say hi to Caesar for me too."

"Will do."

Barney hung up, a smile on his face now. He was glad the girl was doing all right.

"Who was that?" Tool asked, curious.

"A friend," Barney answered. He considered Caroline a friend.

"Heard from Lee?"

"They boarded their plane. They're heading out soon."

"Good for him."

"I'm gonna miss him, but it's for the greater good."

"You can always bust out Doc if you need a knife specialist," Tool pointed out.

"You're right. I can," Barney nodded. He picked up his drink and sipped it.

"Time! That's time!" Caesar shouted. He and Yang were examining each other's work now.

"To Gunner," Tool said suddenly, raising his glass. Barney raised his glass too.

"To Gunner," Barney echoed. He missed his colleague and friend, but he knew Gunner wouldn't want him to dwell on it too much.

"All right, folks," Toll said, coming out with his bag. "I'm off."

"Have fun," Barney commented.

"Will do. I haven't built anything in a while. I'm stoked," Toll grinned.

"Just make sure it isn't gonna fall and crush the guy when it's done," Barney joked.

"Ye of little faith," Toll snorted.

"Gimme some of those wings," Tool said now, getting up and going over to Yang and Caesar. Barney waved to Toll as he exited, and he sat back to watch his three friends.

Yes indeed, life would carry on.

...

"I can't believe we're here," Emily said when they finally got to the place they'd rented in Paris. Eddie was racing around and looking at everything. Lee finished bringing their bags inside. He joined her on the small balcony outside.

"So this is how it feels to be relaxed and not on edge thinking you're gonna die every second," Lee joked as he put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Right?" Emily said, laughing a little.

"It's you and me now," Lee said after a bit. She moved to kiss him then.

"I can live with that," she said afterwards.

"Mummy! Daddy! Look! I can see the tower from my room!" Eddie shouted from inside. "Come see!"

Emily and Lee grinned at each other before going to join their son inside. It was a start of a new adventure for all of them, and Lee was grateful he'd taken Gunner's advice.

He wasn't going to waste his second chance.

* * *

**One chapter left!**


	16. Chapter 16

**2006**

Lee opened his eyes slowly, and he could hear talking around him. He blinked. Where was he?

"That's a beautiful ending," Toll was saying. "Love it."

"I still don't understand why I had to die," Gunner was saying. "I mean, I coulda survived all that and had a happy ending too."

"It made the story have feeling," Caesar insisted.

"Then you coulda died," Gunner pointed out.

"Hey, hey, hey," Barney said, making them all stop talking. "Look who finally decided to join us. Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty."

Lee turned his head to see his team and Emily sitting there looking at him. Caesar and Toll were sitting on the floor while Gunner, Barney, and Emily sat in chairs, Emily's crutches beside her. Yang was standing.

"Whazzgoinon?" Lee asked, slurring a little. He cleared his throat and tried to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth better.

"You had a cardiac arrest during surgery, and then you decided to go into a coma," Barney explained. "You scared the shit out of all of us, but you're back now."

"Coma?" Lee asked, confused.

"Yea. Something about lack of oxygen to your brain caused it. I don't fully understand medical shit," Barney said.

"How long?" Lee questioned.

"Oh, two weeks."

Lee jolted inside at this. He'd been in a coma for two weeks? He tried to remember what had happened before getting here. He had been with Emily at her work. A man had entered and tried to shoot her. He'd shot him back and gotten shot in return. Screaming, crying, and hands on his wounds...

"Can you guys give me a minute?" Emily asked.

"Yea, sure," Barney agreed. The men got up and sauntered out, leaving Emily alone with Lee.

"What the hell happened?" Lee asked, still feeling confused.

"You saved me, then you got shot, and then you were brought here," Emily explained. "We...we've been telling a story to each other for the past two weeks just because we got bored."

"A story?" Lee asked. Something was in his head. It was nagging at him.

"Yea. It was a bit silly, but it passed the time. We had it that you had faked your death and then came back five years later after Eric went into a coma from a violent attack. It was supposed to be me originally, but he pouted enough that we let him have his way."

"Eddie?" Lee asked. It hit him hard. "Our son? Where is he?"

"Oh," Emily said, taking his hand in hers. "He...he was part of the story."

"What?" Lee said.

"Caesar is good at tragedy, angsty type stuff. It was his idea that I have a baby while you were gone and that Gunner should die saving you and us."

"I'm so confused," Lee told her. He put his other hand to his head. Eddie wasn't real?

"The moments between you and I were told when I was alone with you," Emily promised.

"Stop," Lee said, holding up his hand. "So we don't have a son?"

"No," Emily shook her head. "I guess you could hear us after all then."

"Joanna?" Lee asked. He remembered that name for some reason too.

"That was actually true," Emily said. "Barney can explain better."

"Water," Lee said then.

"Of course," Emily nodded. She was about to get up when the nurse came in having seen all the men standing in the hallway.

"He's alive!" the nurse joked. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused. Foggy," Lee answered.

"You will for a bit. It'll get better the longer you're awake."

"Will," Lee said then. "Where is Will?"

The nurse looked at Emily, who blushed a little.

"Um, he was part of a story we were telling each other," she explained.

"Right," the nurse said. She finished checking Lee all over before helping him sit up a bit.

"Call if you need anything," she said, showing him where the pager button was. "I'll tell them to bring you something to eat and drink."

Emily watched Lee try to piece things together. She felt bad suddenly that they had confused him. They hadn't realized he would hear them and create some kind of reality for himself.

"We made Will up," Emily told him. "We needed a villain for the story. James was deemed too wimpy for that part."

"Get Barney," Lee said suddenly.

"Okay," she agreed. She got to her feet slowly and went out on her crutches to the hallway. Within moments, Barney was in the room.

"Hey," he said.

"What the hell is going on?" Lee asked. "Why is it that I think I'm five years in the future, have a son, and killed some woman named Joanna?"

"She told you it was a story, right?"

"I got that, yes. Why?"

"We were bored."

"Em said Joanna was real?" Lee asked. Barney got up to close the door before returning to sit beside Lee again.

"I found Kazimir after you had shot him. He hadn't gotten far. He took some persuading, but he told me about Joanna and her connection to Miranda and how the news your father had started arms dealing again came through her, which got him and your mother killed. Miranda was your mother's cousin. Your father and Joanna were partners and lovers before your mother came along, and your father left to be with your mother. That stuff in the story was true. I found Joanna in England after dealing with Kazimir, and she confessed to it all. I didn't kill her, though. She's just going to spend the rest of her life in prison."

"So DeMarko was right. My parents were murdered," Lee said, remembering.

"It seems that way."

"So Em is safe? We're safe?" Lee asked.

"Yea. Once you're cleared from here, you are free," Barney answered.

"That's one hell of a story you guys told," Lee said.

"I should write a book, huh?" Barney grinned.

"Not by yourself."

"No? I thought my parts about Miranda and her daughters were good," Barney said, faking hurt.

"Let me see Em again," Lee ordered. He was finally coming around to knowing that it was 2006 and he hadn't missed out on five years with Emily or had a child he didn't know of. That gave him some relief.

Barney patted his shoulder enthusiastically and got up to get Emily again. She came back looking concerned.

"I really am sorry," she started.

"Hey, it's fine," he interrupted. "I'm just glad we're here now."

Emily got as close to Lee as she could before leaning in to kiss him.

"I missed you," she said.

"I missed you too."

"Caesar wasn't too far off on one thing," Emily said. She was smiling.

"What's that?" he asked. She reached into her purse and pulled out a stick, handing it to him to look at. He stared at it, trying to comprehend.

"It's a pregnancy test, Lee," Emily said, helping him out. He looked up at her quickly.

"Are you...?"

"Yes," she laughed. "I am."

Lee felt more relief then. So he was going to have a child after all. He pulled her in for an awkward, sideways type hug before kissing her hard.

"You're not going to miss out on anything," Emily promised.

"I'm done being an Expendable," Lee said.

"I know."

He held her hand tightly in his. He was never letting her go, and he was never putting himself at risk ever again.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked. "I'll take you there."

"Well, since I quit _Runway_, I think I'm open to going anywhere, but I want to wait before we do that. Let's just stay here a while and have the baby and then go from there."

"Okay," Lee agreed. One step at a time. They'd take it one step at a time.

"Here," Emily said, taking off the chain and handing his St. Christopher's necklace back to him. "It served its purpose."

"Keep it," Lee told her. "It looks better on you anyway." She smiled and put it back on. She did like the feel of it weighted on her chest.

Then Eric came in with Rosemary and talked for a bit, and Barney came back with the guys later before going to the hotel for the night.

Lee couldn't wait until he was discharged and could start his life with Emily.

...

Barney was the last one down for the night. He'd listened to the boys chatter and talk amongst themselves before slowing turning in. Toll, Caesar, and Yang were sharing a room. Gunner and Barney were sharing another. He kept thinking about the story they'd told together. No one knew that he'd spoken with Miranda after the incident. It was how he'd gotten the information that she'd told Joanna about Michael Jones. Miranda had been extremely reluctant to speak with him, but he'd gotten through to her. He'd seen the picture of her twins and asked about them. Miranda had shared that her husband was fighting for custody, claiming Miranda couldn't care for them as her work took precedence over everything. He hoped the twins wouldn't be pulled in many different directions because of it.

"Think we could go to that cabin someday?" Gunner asked, breaking into his thoughts and startling him. He'd thought he was the only one awake. "The fishing sounds good up there."

"I didn't realize you actually liked to fish," Barney laughed.

"Sometimes," Gunner said defensively. "I'm not all guns and ammo, you know."

"Sure, man. Someday we'll have a vacation," Barney promised. The cabin on the island was real too, of course.

"What're we gonna do without Lee?" Gunner questioned.

"We'll get along just fine."

"If you say so."

Barney got settled into his bed and groaned as Gunner started snoring loudly. He put a pillow over his ears, wishing he'd remembered that Toll was the quietest sleeper out of the group.

**Five Years Later**

"You can see the tower from my room!" Eddie exclaimed. Lee and Emily laughed. They were finally in Paris, which was Emily's dream. Barney had mentioned stopping by sometime when they were in the area. Lee was looking to get a job as a mechanic because he enjoyed working on cars. Emily was looking into the fashion industry as she was still doing that type of work at a different magazine.

"See? Our story had the same ending," Emily said to Lee after Eddie showed them the view from his window.

"Well, not quite," Lee said as their two year old daughter woke up finally and squawked for attention. Lee went to pick her up and held her tightly in his left arm. His wedding band glinted in the sunlight. It matched Emily's. Before Eddie was born, they'd had a very small ceremony.

"Bird," the girl said, pointing at his tattoo of the raven and skull.

"That is a bird. Good job, Laurie," he said. She beamed at him, and his heart melted.

"Eddie, come help me take your things to your room," Emily called.

"Yes, Mummy," Eddie said, obliging.

Lee watched them work together and smiled to himself. He knew he'd made the right choice by quitting his job. He didn't regret it at all. He had his family, and he had the knowledge that his job wasn't going to potentially kill him every day. Em gave him a smile before disappearing into Eddie's room, and Laurie planted a kiss on his cheek before asking to be put down. Then she was off to join her brother and mother, leaving Lee to observe and feel so grateful.

He wouldn't trade it for anything.

**The End**

* * *

**If you've read enough of my stories, you know how much I love my twists :D. I hope that wasn't too weird of an ending, but it came to me after I started writing this story, and I couldn't see any other ending that would fit.**

**Also, I did some reading on comas, so if it is inaccurate, blame Google. I'm not a doctor.**

**Thank you to those who reviewed, followed, and favorited! Until next time :)**


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